The Indian Air Force’s helicopter continued to combat flames for a second day, putting numerous places under control, although Uttarakhand reported eight new forest fires, the forest department reported in its daily briefing on Sunday.
In addition, the government filed 196 charges against “anti-social elements” for igniting the fires and revoked the leaves of all forest department personnel until the issue was fully under control, according to officials.
Eight of the new fires that were recorded between Sunday at 4 p.m. and 24 hours later were in the Kumaon region, which has also experienced the most damage from flames since November 1 of last year. Approximately 735.8 hectares of forest land have been destroyed by 606 fires since November 1 of last year. The regions with the most damage are the Garhwal, Kumaon, and administrative wildlife regions, with 242.3 hectares, 429.4 hectares, and 64.02 hectares, respectively, according to forest officials.
According to Kumaon chief conservator of forests Prasanna Kumar Patro, there are two to three fires in the Nainital district and one each in Champawat, Almora, Pithoragarh, and Bageshwar.
He said that the IAF helicopter that was sent out on Saturday was instrumental in putting out the fire in the forests of Ladiyakata and the Pines region on the Nainital-Bhowali road.
An IAF chopper was dispatched to help put out the forest fire in Nainital on Friday after it got dangerously close to the High Court Colony and the Air Force base that housed sensitive equipment.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami stated that the fire in Nainital is progressively being brought under control after reviewing the situation late on Saturday night.
“We have taken forest fire as a challenge. I have instructed concerned officials to take all possible steps to control the incidents of forest fires. I have instructed DM and other officials to work in coordination, active fire stations and take assistance from the local community,” he said.
According to Patro, efforts are being made to put out the fires in other locations, and they will soon be brought under control. He ascribed the recent upsurge in Kumaon forest fire events to the increasing aridity brought on by the heat wave in the lower regions of Uttarakhand’s Champawat and Nainital districts, which border Nepal.
The official forest fire season starts on February 15 and ends on June 15. Experts have attributed this year’s alarming spike to an exceptionally dry winter, followed by below normal spring rain.
“One of the main reasons for this is the major deficiency in winter rain or snow this year. Himalayas have faced a dry spell September onwards and that has not been compensated,” Shekhar Pathak, historian and academic specialising in Uttarakhand’s people’s movements, told news agency on Saturday.
News agency analysed from Nasa’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) showed that the number of fires detected between April 1 and 27 is 127% higher than the average number of blazes seen between 2012 and 2021.
Meanwhile, efforts were stepped up to extinguish ongoing forest fires and prevent fresh incidents in the worst-affected areas of Nainital, Haldwani and Ramnagar forest divisions, forest officials said.
The flames have already been doused in many areas, including Marora and Khanana civil areas in Maniknath range of the Narendranagar forest division, they said.
Apart from the IAF helicopter and Army personnel, Prantiya Rakshak Dal volunteers and homeguard personnel have also been roped in to help in the firefighting operations, Kumaon commissioner Deepak Rawat said.
To expedite the deployment of firefighting personnel to the impacted areas, Rawat stated that more government vehicles—two for each of the three forest divisions—have been provided. Since they are the first to respond to forest fires, the forest panchayat officials are enlisting the help of the community, he continued.
Officials from the forest department will not be able to return to work until the fire situation is fully under control. Employees of the forest department may only apply for leaves of absence in cases of serious illness, according to Dhami.
The Indian Air Force claims that a Mi-17 V5 helicopter has been sent to put out the fires in Nainital and the adjacent districts. It is gathering water in a 5,000-liter Bambi bucket from the Bhimtal lake and dumping it over the blazing trees.
There’s no need to be concerned, according to Nishant Verma, state nodal officer for forest fires and additional principal chief conservator of forests.
“We are pursuing severe measures against ‘anti-social elements’ who set fires in the forests on purpose. Thus far this year, we have recorded 196 cases of these kinds,” he stated.
“We are continuing our efforts to identify the remaining unidentified suspects in the remaining cases. Of the total 196 cases registered so far, 29 individuals have been named in 23 cases,” he stated.
