Saturday, 15 JUNE 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Expressing anguish on the tragic death of four employees of Forest department in a forest fire in Almora district, the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Karan Mahara has said that the State government has failed to prepare a concrete plan to deal with forest fires and the employees of forest department are paying its price with their lives.
“The government not only lacks a plan, the forest department provides no fire protection suits to its workers. The State government is forced to take the services of the army in controlling forest fires which shows the government has failed,’’ he said.
The PCC president demanded that the government should increase the compensation amount given to the affected families. He said that compensation to the families of the deceased should be increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 25 lakhs. Mahara said that the government should give jobs to one member of the family of every employee who died in the accident.
The Congress president added that 17 employees of the forest department have so far lost their lives in the forest fires. These deaths have put a question mark on the BJP government of the State.
Expressing shock at the absence of a burn ward in the government medical college Almora, Mahara said the workers suffering burn injuries could have been treated in Almora itself if the government set up the burn ward in the medical college. He said that similar conditions prevail in other medical colleges and hospitals which suffer from either absence of doctors or facilities. In such a situation, the emergency health services in the State are in dire straits.
The PCC president added that 72 per cent of the total geographical area of the State is under forest. The Congress party is continuously demanding that the union government should provide green bonus to the State but the BJP government has paid no heed to the demand.
