Dehradun, Jun 20 (PTI) Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav arrived in Dehradun on a two-day visit to take stock of the forest fire situation in the state. After being received at the Jolly Grant Airport by State Forest Minister Subodh Uniyal, Yadav left for a visit to the affected areas of Tehri district and interacted with locals.
He went to Hindolakhal, Bermuda and Badshahithol and spoke to locals about the measures that can be taken to control forest fires.
This year, there has been a surge in forest fires in Uttarakhand with 1,265 such incidents reported this “fire season” compared to 760 in 2023, the forest department said. The fire season in Uttarakhand begins each year usually in mid-February and comes to an end with the onset of monsoon in June.
The situation got alarming on several occasions with the forest fires spreading dangerously close to residential areas in Nainital and Tehri districts. Helicopters from the Indian Air Force had to be deployed to aid firefighting operations in Nainital and Pauri districts. They used bambi buckets to collect water from lakes and rivers to douse the blazes in the forests. During their interaction with Yadav, women from the affected villages said the highly inflammable pine leaves were the main culprits for the spike in forest fire incidents.
They suggested the gradual elimination of pine leaves by replacing them with Baanj, Buransh and Kafal trees as a possible way out.
In lower areas planting fruit-bearing trees with broad leaves may help improve the situation, they said Yadav asked Uniyal to prepare a report on the basis of suggestions offered by locals and forward it to the Centre. According to the department, 747.72 hectares of forest land were affected by the fires this year, which is nearly twice the area (916.06 hectares) affected last year. Ten people, including forest personnel engaged in the fire fighting exercise and common people, lost their lives in forest blazes this year and nine were injured. Rains which started on Wednesday after a prolonged dry spell have led to a temporary respite from forest blazes with no fresh incidents reported over the last 24 hours. PTI ALM NB
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