Fire in the forests of Uttarakhand, NGT issued notice to the central and state government
Taking suo motu cognizance of the incidents of fire in the forests of Uttarakhand, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notice to the Central and State Government. Taking suo motu cognizance of the reports of our associate newspaper Times of India, the NGT has issued notice to the Union Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests of Uttarakhand and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the State Disaster Management Authority. The NGT has made all of them respondents in the case and directed them to file a detailed affidavit before the next hearing on July 19.
The TOI news report mentioned the forest fire in Nainital. When the situation became serious, the Indian Air Force had to deploy a helicopter to douse the fire by taking water from Bhimtal Lake. The NGT said that the case has been registered on suo motu cognizance on the basis of the Times of India report on April 27 “IAF helicopter roped in to douse fire in Nainital as situation worsens in district”. The NGT said the news is related to the massive fire in Nainital. According to the report, the fire reached HC Colony in Pines area. An M-17 helicopter of the Indian Air Force was deployed to control the situation. The helicopter used Bambi buckets to collect water from Bhimtal lake and later poured it on the blazing forests in various areas of the district, including Pines, Bhumidhar, Jyoalikot, Narayan Nagar, Bhawali, Ramgarh and Mukteshwar.
The NGT bench of Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member Afroz Ahmed said the Times of India report made it clear that 31 new incidents of forest fire were reported in the state, resulting in the destruction of 33.3 hectares of forest land. The NGT said the news reports indicate that 575 incidents of fire have occurred in Uttarakhand since November 1 last year, affecting 689.8 hectares of forest land. The news raises the issue of negligence in compliance with environmental norms, especially the Forest (Protection) Act, 1980 and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
