DC Kohima Henok B Buchem on January 30 informed that the surveillance team has reported back from the fire incident site at the Southern Dzükou, and a review meeting was held at the DC’s residence on Friday evening to take stock of the situation.

He stated that the main Dzükou valley remains untouched by the fire so far. DC clarified that the fire is spreading slowly and remains concentrated primarily around the Dzükou helipad area. Further more IAF helicopters had also conducted bambi bucket operations on Friday. With ongoing active intervention by the IAF helicopters, DC highlighted that containment is expected to be achieved, and operations are to continue on Saturday. In the meantime, the surveillance team shall continue to monitor and assess the situation from the location, he maintained.

Additionally, the Southern Angami Youth Organization (SAYO), in a statement, highlighted that on the fourth day of the ongoing Dzükou wildfire spread, a joint team comprising the SAYO executives and volunteers, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the Home Guard Commandant and his team, the Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA), the SDO (Civil), Jakhama, and the SDPO, South Police Station, Kohima, along with a drone team, visited the valley to assess the situation.

The organisation highlighted that upon inspection, it was observed that the fire along the trails to the valley had completely subsided on both the Jakhama entry and Viswema entry routes. However, upon reaching the base camp, the team noted that a few pockets of fire were still burning beyond the base camp on a limited scale.

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The team surveyed beyond the stretches of the base camp, the valley of the Southern Village mountain hills and the stretch from Khiyoke to Mt. Tempü using drone assistance, upon monitoring these areas carefully, it was noticed that the fire along these areas were completely settled down.

In addition to these efforts, SAYO mentioned that an aerial recce inspection was conducted by Indian Air Force Chopper while a Bambi bucket sortie was scheduled by the IAF chopper through the coordination of NSDMA.

Further, the organisation highlighted that the local authorities stationed at the base camp of the valley have been instructed to maintain close surveillance and provide regular update and the team remains in close coordination with the concerned authorities to initiate further necessary actions to completely contain the spread of the wildfire.