IAF drops 40,000 litres from Sukhna Lake to tame Kasauli inferno

Shimla/Chandigarh: Indian Air Force helicopters lifted and dropped nearly 40,000 litres of water from Chandigarh's Sukhna Lake in more than 15 sorties during a marathon overnight operation with the Army and civil authorities to contain a massive forest fire raging across Kasauli hills in Himachal Pradesh's Solan district.The blaze erupted around 3pm on Tuesday in the Gilbert Trail and Upper Mall areas and spread rapidly through the densely forested slopes of Kasauli.Initial firefighting efforts by forest and fire department teams, aided by locals, failed to control the flames, following which the Army's Kasauli Brigade launched a coordinated ground operation.The Air Force joined firefighting operations around 5pm, deploying Mi-17 helicopters equipped with Bambi Buckets to carry water from Sukhna Lake, around 60 km away by road, to inaccessible stretches of the burning hills.Army troops, fire tenders and water carriers were simultaneously deployed on the ground to stop the blaze from spreading into vulnerable forest zones.Officials said the combined air and ground operation, which continued for over 15 hours, largely contained the fire and prevented major damage.Army personnel continued clearing debris, creating firebreaks and dousing residual hotspots to prevent flare-ups. No casualties or injuries were reported during the operation.Lieutenant General Pushpendra Singh, general officer commanding-in-chief, Western Command, visited the affected area to review the operation and later awarded commendation cards to personnel involved in the firefighting effort.