Wildfires continue, 37 hectares forest area gutted in one day

DEHRADUN: The forest fire spree across the state continued on Tuesday as several incidents of wildfires were reported from Uttarkashi, Dehradun, Rudraprayag, Tehri, and Pauri Garhwal gutting at least 37 hectares of forest cover. The state government incurred a loss of Rs 83,759 due to the incidents.
In Tehri, the forest fire broke out after an electric pole fell down on Monday leaving behind spark that lit trees.A video of the incident has also gone viral on the social media after which the state electricity department is being blamed for shoddy upkeep of the electric poles.
Speaking to TOI, Pramod Kumar, conservator of forest fires, Uttarakhand, said, “We have been able to bring down the forest fire incidents in the last week. Around 4,000 local workforce from villages and 11,000 others working (directly or indirectly) with forest department are involved in dousing the flames along with the help of 750 state forest department vehicles.”
With no respite in sight from the rising mercury, the forest department is expecting a further rise in forest fire cases in the hill state, where more than 70 per cent of the land area comes under forest cover.
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 that has been compiled by the Doon-based Forest Survey of India.