War of words among officials as fresh fire spreads to hills

MUSSOORIE: A massive fire broke out at ITM forest near Chukkar Road under Landour Cantt area here on Wednesday night. While the blaze had spread to three hills at the time of going to press, forest officials said that they were grossly underprepared to tackle it besides claiming that the area comes under the jurisdiction of Cantt Board officials.
Conveying their inability to tackle the fire that had started in the Cantt area, forest officials said that they were already busy controlling another blaze that broke out in Kolhu Khet area of Mussoorie.Talking to TOI, forester Gajendra Dhutt Gour said, “Since blaze spreads through grass quickly, we can’t move from Kolhu Khet where one hectare has been gutted already. Also, when fire breaks out under Cantt area, it is usually the department concerned which handles it. We can go there only in the morning after dousing the fire in our area.”
Meanwhile, Ravindra Rana, a fire department employee, said, “The fire is spreading quickly. There is little we can do to tackle it now. Since it is a jungle, the forest department officials should look into it.”
Despite repeated attempts, Cantt Board officials could not be reached for comment.