Uttarakhand: The forests turned red again due to the blazing fire…
Forest fires have flared up again in various parts of Uttarakhand and two major incidents of fire have occurred in the Gauhari range of the Rajaji Tiger Reserve and on the trekking route to the Neelkanth Mahadev temple in Rishikesh.
Rajaji Tiger Reserve Director Saket Badola said on Friday that about 1.5 hectares of forest area was affected by the fire that broke out in the Gauhari range of the region on Thursday evening.
Badola said that the fire in the Gauhari range of the tiger reserve has been controlled, but more than one hectare of forest area near Pundrasu on the trekking route to the Neelkanth Mahadev temple is raging, which is being tried to extinguish.
Uttarkashi District Disaster Management Officer Devendra Patwal said that apart from Varunavat hills in the border district of Uttarkashi, forests of Barahat, Mukhem, Dunda and Dharasu range are also in the grip of fire.
He said forest guards, rapid response teams, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), police and fire personnel are engaged in dousing the fire in Uttarkashi district.
Additional Chief Conservator of Forests Nishant Verma said that after a decrease in incidents of fire for about a fortnight (15 days), forest fires flared up again on Thursday and more than 13 hectares of forest land was affected across the state with fire incidents at 11 places.
- He said that a decline in incidents of forest fires was being seen for the last 15 days.
- He said that 1,167 incidents of forest fires have occurred this season, affecting about 1600 hectares of land.
- Verma said that so far six people have died and five people have been injured due to forest fires in Uttarakhand.
