Uttarakhand: Forest is burning, water is drying up! Government’s tension increased before Chardham Yatra…

The people of Uttarakhand are facing a double blow at this time. On one hand, people are suffering due to the heat of the sun, while on the other hand, the fire in the forests of the state is not showing signs of calming down. Amidst all this, the shortage of water in the hilly areas has troubled the people a lot. People from Garhwal to Kumaon are facing drinking water crisis.

How people are facing the drinking water crisis in Uttarakhand can be gauged from the fact that when Delhi Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a virtual meeting with the officials, he took everyone up to date on the drinking water crisis. Also, instructions have been given to the officials that the people of Uttarakhand as well as the devotees coming on Chardham Yatra should not face any kind of drinking water crisis.

Uttarakhand troubled by forest fire

The biggest disaster that has hit Uttarakhand at this time is forest fire. The month of May has started. The scorching heat has already made life difficult for the people, on top of that the fire burning in the forests has further increased the temperature in Uttarakhand. The forest fire now started reaching residential areas. Three people lost their lives due to forest fire in Almora district of Kumaon division.

The government had to take the help of the army to extinguish the fire.

Due to forest fire in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli, Tehri, Uttarkashi, Nainital, Pithoragarh Bageshwar and even in the areas around the capital Dehradun, only smoke is visible in the sky. The forest department is also struggling to control forest fire. Recently, the fire in the forests of Nainital district had become so terrible that the help of Air Force had to be taken to control the fire. The Air Force had extinguished the forest fire with the help of MI-17 helicopter.

The government also seems to be quite worried about the forest fires. This is the reason why today on May 4, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a high level meeting regarding forest fire and gave directions to all the officials to completely control the forest fire within the next one week. The officers of all the departments sitting in Dehradun and the officers sitting in the districts should take the responsibility of this.

The fire in Chamoli forests has not subsided

Despite all the efforts of the Forest Department, the number of forest fire cases is increasing. Fire was raging in many areas of Chamoli today, even on May 4. It is being told that someone had set fire to his farm here, which spread to the forests. The fire in the forests around Karnaprayag and Alaknanda is getting worse. In some areas the fire had spread out of the forest and reached the roadside. However, the forest workers controlled the fire in time. It is a matter of concern that even after calming down, the fire continues to smolder at many places, which sometimes takes a severe form.

Strict instructions from CM Dhami

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has clearly told the officials that everyone should fulfill their responsibilities properly. The forest fire should be controlled at any cost within a week. Because the season of Chardham Yatra is starting from 10th May. Devotees coming to the state should not face any problem.

What do forest department officials say: According to Uttarakhand Forest Chief Dhananjay Mohan, 350 cases of forest fire have been reported in the state, in which cases have been registered against 60 people. Forest Chief Dhananjay Mohan said that wherever the fire is being reported, the Forest Department team is being sent immediately and efforts are being made to control the fire. On the instructions of CM Dhami, additional efforts are also being made to extinguish the fire.

Along with this, the state government has signed an agreement with NTPC regarding Pirul. NTPC will soon start purchasing Pirul, after which the incidents of forest fire in Uttarakhand will reduce. Because firewood is a major cause of forest fires.

According to the information received from the Jal Nigam, there are about 118 such settlements in the urban areas across the state and more than 100 such settlements in the rural areas of the hills and plains, where the water problem is becoming acute. People are not getting water in the capital Dehradun itself. Water is being sent by tankers to many areas.

It is a matter of concern that the biggest problem of drinking water is in Pauri, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Tehri and Uttarkashi districts and these districts fall on the Chardham Yatra route, where lakhs of pilgrims will throng every day.

Outcry for water in Kumaon too

There is an outcry for water in Garhwal as well as Kumaon. Even in Kumaon division, cities like Nainital, Haldwani, Almora, Pithoragarh and Champawat are not getting sufficient quantity of water. The drinking water crisis has started deepening in most areas of the state except Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar district.

This is not the first time such a problem is arising in the state regarding drinking water, generally every year the common people have to struggle for water in summer. Today, on May 2, CM Dhami has given instructions to the officials that wherever there is shortage of water, water should be sent through tankers and other sources.

Drinking water crisis started deepening

While the people in Uttarakhand are troubled by the scorching heat and forest fire, the drinking water crisis is also deepening. Uttarakhand, which quenches the thirst of a large population of the country through rivers like Ganga and Yamuna, is itself thirsty. The figures released by Uttarakhand Jal Nigam are pointing in this direction.