Staff Correspondent:

A massive fire that erupted in the Shaplar Beel area of the Sundarbans on Sunday morning was fully doused on Thursday.

A total of 168 fire service personnel from 10 units extinguished the fire by 12 pm, said Sakaria Haider, deputy assistant director (DAD) of the Bagerhat Fire Service and Civil Defence.

“Since there was no water source nearby, they had to struggle to extinguish the fire,” he added.

Dipen Chandra Das, assistant conservator of forests (ACF) for the Chandpai Range in the Sundarbans East Division, said the affected area would be closely monitored for the next seven days.

Forest Department teams would conduct round-the-clock surveillance, and drones will be deployed for aerial monitoring.

The forest official informed that the fire had destroyed approximately 4.5 acres of forest land in the region.

Earlier on Saturday morning, members of the Forest Department noticed a fire at the Tepar Beel area near the Kolmatji Camp of the Dhansagar Station in the Chandpai Range of the Sundarbans East Division.

Firefighters brought the blaze under full control on Sunday morning, more than 24 hours after it broke out.

Meanwhile, separate probe committees were formed to determine the causes of the recent fires in the Tapar Beel and Shaplar Beel areas of the Sundarbans and to assess the resulting biodiversity loss.

The committee members visited various sections of the forest to gather information. Notably, evidence left by local Mauwals (beekeepers) had been discovered at the scene. Upon completion of their investigations, the committees would submit their reports to the Divisional Forest Officer.

ACF Das also said that the Forest Department plans to file two separate general diaries at the Morelganj and Tepar Beel police stations regarding the matter.