Partha Chakrabortty, Bagerhat

After 30 hours of frantic efforts, the fire at the Sundarban’s (East Forest Range) Sharankhola Range was extinguished around 5:00pm yesterday.

The fire service officials, forest department members, community patrol group (CPG) volunteers, and locals jointly conducted operations to douse the fire that broke out on Monday noon.

The authorities, however, were yet to confirm the damage caused by the fire.

According to locals, at least five acres of forest were destroyed in the Daser Varani area inside the forest because of the fire.

On February 8 this year, three decimals of forest land were gutted by another fire in Chandpai Ranch of the forest. In the last 20 years, at least 25 cases of fire were reported in the Sundarban.

Locals expressed anger and frustration over the one-after-another fire cases inside the forest.

One such local named Afzal, of Rasulpur village adjacent to the forest, said, “Sundarban is like our mother. We depend on the forest for our survival. These fires are hurting us terribly.

“The reasons behind the fires are never clearly said to the people. Alongside the trees and animals inside the forest, we are also hurt by the fires. The authorities need to be more careful to avoid such incidents.”