Uttarakhand reported eight new forest fires, the forest department said in its daily bulletin on Sunday, as a helicopter of the Indian Air Force continued firefighting operations for the second day bringing under control the blaze in several areas.
Separately, the government cancelled the leaves of all forest department officials till the situation was completely under control, and filed against 196 cases against “anti-social elements” for starting the fires, officials said.
HT launches Crick-it, a one stop destination to catch Cricket, anytime, anywhere. Explore now!
Of the new fires, reported in the 24 hours till 4pm on Sunday, eight were in the Kumaon region, which has also seen the maximum damage due to the fires since November 1 last year. Of the over 735.8 hectares of forest land damaged in 606 fires since November 1 last year, 242.3 hectares were damaged in the Garhwal region, 429.4 hectares in the Kumaon region and 64.02 hectares in the administrative wildlife regions, forest officials said.
In the Kumaon region, fires are raging at two to three places in Nainital district and at one place each in Champawat, Almora, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar, Kumaon chief conservator of forest Prasanna Kumar Patro said.
Read more: Uttarakhand forest fires: NDRF rushed to Nainital; officials’ leaves cancelled
The fire in the forests of Ladiyakata and Pines area on Nainital-Bhowali road have been extinguished with the help of the IAF helicopter that was deployed on Saturday, he said.
After the forest fire in Nainital reached dangerously close to the High Court Colony and the Air Force base containing sensitive equipment on Friday, an IAF helicopter was called in to help quell the flames.
Following a review of the situation late on Saturday night, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the fire in Nainital is gradually being brought under control.
“We have taken forest fire as a challenge. I have instructed concerned officials to take all possible steps to control the incidents of forest fires. I have instructed DM and other officials to work in coordination, active fire stations and take assistance from the local community,” he said.
Patro said efforts are on to extinguish the flames at other places and they will be brought under control soon. He attributed the recent spike in forest fire incidents in Kumaon to increased dryness due to heat wave in the lower areas of Champawat and Nainital districts of Uttarakhand bordering Nepal.
Read more: Scanty winter rain a key reason for surge in Uttarakhand forest fires
The official forest fire season starts on February 15 and ends on June 15. Experts have attributed this year’s alarming spike to an exceptionally dry winter, followed by below normal spring rain.
“One of the main reasons for this is the major deficiency in winter rain or snow this year. Himalayas have faced a dry spell September onwards and that has not been compensated,” Shekhar Pathak, historian and academic specialising in Uttarakhand’s people’s movements, told HT on Saturday.
Data HT analysed from Nasa’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) showed that the number of fires detected between April 1 and 27 is 127% higher than the average number of blazes seen between 2012 and 2021.
Meanwhile, efforts were stepped up to extinguish ongoing forest fires and prevent fresh incidents in the worst-affected areas of Nainital, Haldwani and Ramnagar forest divisions, forest officials said.
The flames have already been doused in many areas, including Marora and Khanana civil areas in Maniknath range of the Narendranagar forest division, they said.
Apart from the IAF helicopter and Army personnel, Prantiya Rakshak Dal volunteers and homeguard personnel have also been roped in to help in the firefighting operations, Kumaon commissioner Deepak Rawat said.
Additional government vehicles, two each for the three forest divisions, have been provided to rush firefighting teams to the affected areas, Rawat said. Help from locals with the involvement of forest panchayat officials is also being taken as they are the first responders to forest fires, he added.
The leaves of forest department officials have been cancelled until the fire situation is completely brought under control. Leave applications of forest department personnel will be considered only in case of medical emergencies, Dhami said.
According to the Indian Air Force, a Mi-17 V5 helicopter has been deployed in Nainital and surrounding areas to douse the flames. It is collecting water from the Bhimtal lake in a Bambi bucket, which has a capacity of 5,000 litres, and pouring it over the burning forests.
Nishant Verma, additional principal chief conservator of forests and state nodal officer for forest fires, said that there was no cause for alarm.
“We are taking stern action against ‘anti-social elements’ who are intentionally starting fires in the forests. We have registered 196 cases so far this year in such cases,” he said.
“Of the total 196 cases registered so far, 29 individuals have been named in 23 cases, and we are continuing our efforts to identify the rest of the unidentified suspects in the rest of the cases,” he said.
With agency inputs
