Top News

Dehradun. As the temperature is rising in the mountains, the havoc of fire is also increasing in the forests of Uttarakhand. The situation has become so uncontrollable that on Sunday, more than 250 forest fire alerts were issued across the state in a single day. The fire is spreading so fast that the forest department and fire brigade teams are left sweating. The way the forests have blazed, especially near the residential areas of Mussoorie and Chakrata, has put the local people in great panic.

Actually, burning of mountains in the summer season is not a new thing, but this time the speed of spread of fire is scary. If we talk about the capital Dehradun, incidents of fire have been reported at 21 different places in just 24 hours. People are continuously receiving calls on the emergency number of Doon Fire Service. According to Chief Fire Officer Abhinav Tyagi, 12 fires broke out in Dehradun city, 3 each in Vikasnagar and Doiwala, while two fires broke out in Rishikesh. Apart from this, the fire department had to take charge with great difficulty after flames broke out in the forests of Kuanwala, near Jolly Grant Airport, Aamwala and Pondha.

Danger looms even to settlements in Mussoorie

The situation suddenly worsened on the famous Camel Back Road of Mussoorie on Sunday evening when a massive fire broke out in the pine forest just below Nirankari Bhawan. The strong winds blowing on the mountains and dry pirul (pine leaves) lying on the ground added fuel to the fire. Within no time, about half a hectare of forest wealth was burnt to ashes. Since this area is adjacent to the cantt and private forests, the flames started moving directly towards the residential areas, causing panic among the people.

It is being told that this area is very inaccessible and steep. In such a situation, fire brigade vehicles could not reach there. Seeing the situation worsening, the forest department employees had to descend on foot into the deep ditch and slope and start the work of extinguishing the fire. According to DFO Amit Kanwar, after about four hours of hard work, the fire was completely controlled by 10 pm. At the same time, local resident Harpal Singh says that if the forest workers had not reached there in time and the rescue work had not started, the flames would have engulfed the settlements and a major accident could have happened.

Shop destroyed in Chakrata due to forest fire in Uttarakhand

On the other hand, the roadside forests in Barori area under Chakrata Cantonment Board also caught fire. The team had to work hard for seven hours to extinguish this fire. In Fedulani located on Sahiya-Kwanu motor road, the fire became so severe that a two-storey shop was completely burnt to ashes. To control the situation, Cantonment Board employees had to carry out rescue operations till late night.

In view of these continuously worsening conditions, the Forest Department has now come into strict action mode. In fact, many times forest fires do not occur due to natural causes, but due to human negligence or deliberate mischief. In view of this, two separate FIRs have also been lodged in Buakhal and Kaleshwar Beat of Pauri district on suspicion of setting fire in the forests. Garhwal DFO Mahatim Yadav has clarified that it is a matter of great concern that forest fires are now reaching villages and residential settlements. The department is now taking direct legal action against such mischievous elements who set fire to the forests so that this devastation can be stopped.