Continuous fire in Dhanshree Manavsri Forest in Bhairavkund: Hundreds of precious trees destroyed.

Dhanshree man-made forest at Bhairavkund in Odalguri district has been burning in a mysterious fire for the past three days. The exact cause of the forest fire that has been burning since last Saturday is yet to be ascertained though flames have been found engulfing more than ten bighas of the forest. Fire has already damaged many precious trees in the wake of a massive fire in this man-made forest built in 2014 under the supervision of dhanshree joint forest management committee. The forest currently has two camps namely Maibra and Ferenga but fire has already spread to many areas of the forest due to fire near Maibra Shivari.

The fire has caused many small trees in the man-made forest to burst into flames and many other trees have been seen dying in the heat of the fire in the base of many other trees. As a result thousands of trees in the forest are on the verge of death. This has led to a cry among the wildlife and birds in the forest. The fact that the forest committee did not inform the fire brigade about the fire has become a mystery.

It may be recalled that in 2014, the Dhanshree Forest Division initiative started planting trees on dhanshree reserve forest land by forming a forest management committee called Dhanshree-Sikaridanga with the enterprising youth of seven local villages. More than 12 lakh saplings have been planted since 2014 in collaboration with forest department industries and forest committees on about 600 hectares of land. The dhanshree man-made forest, located on the eastern end of Bhairavkunda, started with a beautiful green environment, especially the planted khair trees.