Uttarakhand Forest Fires: Over 60 new cases reported in 1 day
The process of forest burning in Uttarakhand continued on Tuesday also. 68 new incidents of forest fire were reported in one day. Till now the fire has engulfed 1316 hectares of forest. On the other hand, on Tuesday, senior officials of the Forest Headquarters also took to the field to save the forests.
At the same time, forests are burning in the reserved and civil areas of Adwani and Dobh Srikot near Gadwagad on Pauri-Srinagar Highway since late Monday evening. Forests kept burning here throughout the day on Tuesday. When the fire in the Adwani reserved forests became severe, an Air Force helicopter arrived from Dehradun to extinguish the fire. The helicopter filled water from Srinagar Dam and made 5 to 6 rounds to extinguish the fire in the forests of Adwani.
According to the Forest Department, on Tuesday, forest fires broke out at five places in Garhwal, 55 in Kumaon and eight in wildlife areas. During this period, 119.7 hectares of forest has come under fire. So far, 1316.12 hectares of forest has been affected in a total of 998 fire incidents.
So far 389 cases have been registered in forest crimes, out of which 329 are unknown and 60 are named cases. Senior officers appointed as nodal officers have started reaching the spot.
Meanwhile, Forest Minister Subodh Uniyal reiterated instructions to the Chief Conservator of Forests to take effective action to deal with forest fires. The Chief Conservator of Forests (Garhwal and Kumaon) was asked to ensure all possible and effective measures with the active cooperation of other subordinate departmental officers for effective control of forest fire incidents. The Minister also reiterated that if mischievous elements are found involved in forest fire incidents at the local level, effective action should be taken against them.
