Yash Goyal

Our Correspondent          

Jaipur, March 29

The massive fire that broke out in the forests near Sisarma village in Udaipur has been contained after firemen along with forest officials and the armed forces battled the blaze for hours with an IAF chopper on Wednesday dropping over 25,000 litres of water.

Army troopers spotted the fire to the south of Eklingarh Military Cantonment in Udaipur and quickly alerted the administration, forest officials and fire services, a Defense PRO Lt Col Manish Ojha said.

Indian Air Force’s modified MI-17 V5 helicopters were dispatched from south Western Air Command headquarters at Gandhinagar to survey the fire on Tuesday evening.

“Prompt and effective fire fighting operation was carried out by army troops with guidance from officials of the Forest Department and assistance from fire fighting services,” Lt Col Ojha said. “The operation continued throughout the night, with all agencies working in coordination on the ground to ensure no loss of life and property.”

Troops created fire lanes to staunch its spread. (With agency inputs)