Wildfire destroys 120 acres of farmland
Source: The Sangai Express / Mungchan Zimik
Ukhrul, March 15 2023:
Wildfire razed across the hills of Lungphu village destroying at least 120 acres of horticultural land, including a portion of village orchard last week.
According to a source, the wildfire broke out on March 9 at Zahurao area of Lungphu village.
It might be mentioned that Lungphu village is situated under Phungyar Block of Kamjong district.
Wungshim Angkhang, an elder of Lungphu village stated that the wildfire rapidly engulfed the whole area due to the exceedingly dry season.
Wungshim also informed that the said area of jhumland was set aside 7 years back by the village community mainly for horticultural farming purposes and around 100 families had started cultivating different types of crops and fruits such as banana, tree beans, avocado, kiwi, apple, lemon etc.
According to him, the wild fire devastated the main horticultural land of the village and has caused huge economic loss to the villagers to the tune of Rs 2 crore or more.
Through collective effort, the villagers successfully doused the fire and prevented it from spreading to the adjoining areas.
In this regard, the villagers have urged the department concerned to look into their grievances.
They have also appealed to the State Government to extend relief and rehabilitation measures to the affected villagers.