Itanagar, March 12: Helicopters of the Indian Air Force carried out 54 sorties over four days and dropped around 1.62 lakh litres of water to help control a forest fire in East Siang district, officials said on Thursday.

The firefighting operation began on March 8 after the district administration reported a forest fire in the Mebo circle and sought aerial assistance. The state civil aviation department forwarded the request to the Defence Ministry and the Eastern Air Command, following which IAF helicopters were deployed.

According to officials, the helicopters conducted aerial surveys, water-lifting trials, and water drops using the Siang River as the source.

State disaster management secretary Dani Sulu said in a press release that the water drops were aimed at controlling fires in remote forest areas and locations close to human settlements.

Ground support was provided by district authorities, the incident command unit in Mebo, the civil aviation department, fire and emergency services, personnel from Sigar Military Station, teams from neighbouring districts, the State Disaster Response Force, firefighters from Assam, Aapda Mitras and local villagers led by gaon buras.

A team from the National Disaster Response Force was also kept on standby from March 10.

Officials said the fire affected about 140 hectares of reserve forest and around 200 hectares of community land, farmland and orchards in Sigar, Ralling and Mebo areas. No casualties or loss of livestock were reported.

Authorities added that combined aerial and ground operations, along with heavy rainfall on Wednesday night, helped largely contain the fire.