While the rest of the world was busy celebrating World Forest Day last week, the Yeoor forest was struggling to survive its longest spate of forest fires, claimed by locals as a sabotage. The fire raged on for two days, leaving neighbouring Thane under a spell of dense smoke. Mumbai's green lung, the Sanjay Gandhi National Park is in the news again for the consecutive forest fires in the Yeoor hills and forest. And things just don't seem to get better for the region. A little over a month ago, we reported the government's nod to a high-speed freight train corridor between Delhi and Mumbai which will run through the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and now, the consecutive fires in the forest are providing a glimpse of just how grim the situation is going to be for Mumbai if the forest is not taken care of.

The blame game over the cause of the fire in the forest is a pointless exercise

Even after the biggest fire on Wednesday in the forest was just doused out in the late hours of the evening, Thursday evening saw yet another fire at Indira Nagar in the Thane-Mulund belt. Forest officials say that the sudden increase in temperatures had led to a litter of dry leaves that were otherwise not so prone to catching fire at this time of the year. Accidental fires are spreading faster because of the dry leaf litter on the forest floor. A patch of the forest was left destroyed in the aftermath of Thursday evening's fire.

Residents living along the forest, on the other hand, claim that there has been severe apathy towards the forest welfare. Bedraj Tripathy, a citizen from Thane whose image of the forest fire has gone viral, informed SGNP and Yeoor office after he spotted the fire. “I think the apathy of citizens, the officials and the government towards natural resources and the short term view of making a quick buck drives these rampant fires, which burn the entire greenery. I don't think the officials have taken any steps. It’s burning over three days at a stretch, but no one is bothered.”

Forest officials also blame some residents for causing fires to weaken trees for burning before Holi! Forest officials have stated that mischief makers try to gather firewood by setting roots of the tree on fire which, in-turn, is carried on by the dried leaves.

Significant damage has already been done to the region and all of Mumbai will suffer the consequences.

A team of 13 fire-watchers has been put in place since last week to help quell further fires in the forest. Their primary objective is to clear the forest floor of dried leaves on a daily basis. Also, burnt breakers have been created to stop the fires. The dried grass has been burnt to create six major regions. These burnt gaps will stall any fire fro spreading from region to the next.

The fire has taken a toll on the flora and fauna of the forest. And with the summer months almost upon us, the chances of reviving the lost natural habitats is quite low.