New Delhi. Every year large scale forest fires occur in Uttarakhand. This time too, due to less rain and snowfall in the winter season, earlier lack of adequate moisture was being felt in the forests and now the rising temperature in the summer season is adding fuel to the fire. Forests are burning all around. The forest department is somehow able to control the fire in the forests adjacent to the road head, but the fire in the rest of the forest is out of its control. So far, 656 hectares of forest area has been affected by forest fire in 544 fire incidents across Uttarakhand. However, if the government report is excluded, this figure is more than double.
It can also be estimated from the fact that while the Forest Department is reporting 211 incidents of fire in the Garhwal region, in the same report it is also saying that not a single tree was affected by the fire in Garhwal. On the other hand, Kumaon region has become an epic center in terms of forest fires. So far, 287 incidents have taken place here, more than in Garhwal. The Forest Department is reporting the loss of only one tree due to the fire in the entire Kumaon region. On the condition of anonymity, a retired forest officer says this is very surprising. He said that many hectares of forest would have been affected in 544 fire incidents. The fact that 656 hectares of forest will be affected is also not acceptable. This figure will go into thousands of hectares.
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However, till now two people including a forest worker have got burnt due to the forest fire. There is also human loss every year due to forest fire in Uttarakhand. Between 2014 and 2023, 17 people have lost their lives due to forest fires. Whereas 74 people were injured during this period. The worst fire occurred in 2016. At that time, in 2074 incidents of fire, thousands of hectares of forest area were affected by the fire. During this period, six people died and 31 people were injured.
Then for the first time, the help of Air Force helicopters was taken to extinguish the forest fire. This time, Almora, Champawat, Pithoragarh, Nainital in Kumaon region and Chamoli, Tehri and Uttarkashi districts in Garhwal have been kept as sensitive districts in terms of fire. Due to abundance of pine forests here, more incidents of fire are occurring.
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Tags: forest fire, Uttrakhand, Uttarakhand news
FIRST PUBLISHED: April 25, 2024, 23:39 IST