‘Can’t rely on rain or cloud seeding’, Supreme Court is strict on the fire in the forests of Uttarakhand
On the issue of preventing fire in the forests of Uttarakhand, the Supreme Court said that we cannot sit idle relying on rain or cloud seeding. The government will have to do something effectively. During the hearing before the bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta, the petitioner’s lawyer expressed concern over the increasing incidents of fire and requested for an order to the government to immediately curb them.
The lawyer said that two years ago also a petition was filed in NGT. Till now the government has not taken any action on it. That’s why I had to come here. This matter is all India. Uttarakhand is suffering more from this. The government gave details of incidents of forest fire and measures to control it.
‘The situation is more serious than the details the government is giving easily’
The government said that so far 398 incidents of forest fire have been registered. More than 350 criminal cases have been registered in which 62 people have been named. Efforts are on to identify 298 unidentified people. Some people have also been detained for questioning.
The petitioner said that the situation is more serious than the details the government is giving easily. There is a grave threat to the existence of animals, birds and vegetation living in the forest as well as the residents living nearby. Justice Gavai said that can we also include CEC i.e. Central Empowered Committee in this?
‘We cannot keep relying on rain’
The Supreme Court told the Uttarakhand government that you must have seen how horrific pictures of forest fires are appearing in the media. What is the state government doing? Regarding the fire in the forests of Uttarakhand, Justice Sandeep Mehta said that we cannot depend on rain and cloud seeding. The government will have to step forward and take effective measures soon.
What did the government say?
Uttarakhand government said that the fire season lasts for two months. Every four years there is a severe forest fire. After this, fewer and fewer incidents occur in the next year. These become much higher again in the fourth year. The court said that in this matter we will have to see how the Central High Powered Committee can be involved. Now the court will hold the next hearing on May 15.
1,145 hectares of forest destroyed in six months
More than 9 hundred fire incidents have taken place in Uttarakhand since November. This time the matter is more serious because the fire that started last year is not getting extinguished. According to statistics, 1,145 hectares of forest has been destroyed due to wildfire in the last six months. The fire is now affecting the city too. Visibility has been reduced due to smoke. Meanwhile, many efforts are being made. Even Air Force helicopters are engaged in extinguishing the fire using different techniques.
What is cloud seeding?
For artificial rain, scientists release silver iodide, dry ice and common salt into the clouds at a certain height in the sky. This is called cloud seeding. It is necessary that there should be at least 40 percent clouds in the sky. In which some water is present. Problem in cloud seeding arises when there is lack of water content or humidity in the clouds.
