Several forest fire incidents reported, no respite in sight

Dehradun: As mercury continues to soar, a number of forest fires were reported from Dehradun, Old Mussoorie Road, Suddhowala, and Raipur in the last 48 hours, taking the total number of such incidents to 102 in the district this year.
Forest department caimed they had doused the flames soon after the locals brought the incidents to their notice. However, the spate of incidents near the city areas still remains a cause for concern.
Speaking to TOI, PK Singh, nodal officer for reporting of forest fires in Uttarakhand, said, “Dehradun district has so far witnessed 102 cases of forest fires since January, in which around 130.15 hectare of forest area was damaged and the government incurred a loss to the tune of Rs 1,31 lakh.As for the entire state, 1986 cases of forest fires have been reported this year, in which 2795 hectares of forest area got damaged and the total loss incurred by the government is around Rs 52 lakh.”
With no respite in sight from the rising mercury, a further rise in forest fire cases is expected , necessitaing a need for constant vigil.
Notably, the forest fire incidents have shot up by 49.32% in the past three years in the country during the summer season, according to the data compiled by the Forest Survey of India.
In 2016, 24,817 forest fire incidents were recorded across the country, which increased to 35,888 in 2017 and 37,059 in 2018