Prominent tourist spot Dzukou Valley, Nagaland-Manipur border on fire 

Nagaland, January 4: A fire which broke out at Dziikou Valley on 29 December 2020 has caused a damage of about 9 to 10 sq. km according to the southern Angami youth organization(SAYO).

As apprised by the SAYO the fire first started in the trekking route from Visema towards the valley. The rapidly growing fire had caused huge damage in the valley which is one of the most significant and the tourist attraction valley. As the fire ranged bigger the ground operation was carried out by the Nagaland police, National Disaster Response Force  (NDRF), Forest State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), Southern Angami Youth Organization (SAYO) with SDO civil Jakhama, SDPO South and Forest Range Officer, Kohima are coordination in ground operation as informed by Kohima, Divisional forest officer Raj Kumar M. The Indian Air Force service was also requested by the Nagaland State Government to fight the wildfire in the valley. 

“The main valley is completely safe so far and we cannot exactly assess the damage because our main priority is to safe the valley at any cost and not letting the fire to spread more and damage the main valley, after which the damage assessment will be done” added by DFO  Raj Kumar M.

Meanwhile, the investigation is underway and SAYO has stated that there is a missing attempt to trace the trespassers suspected to have caused the fire on December 29. SAYO President, Zakieleto Tsiikrii said, “Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, entry to Dziikou valley was banned but there were lots of trespassers lately.” 

In the meantime, the Kohima District Disaster Management Authority reported that the situation is under control on the valley site on January 3. A total number of 24,000 litres of water was dropped in fire fighting in the valley with Indian Air force service. As of now, the situation is under control and being contained.