Thursday, 09 MAY 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The forest department has registered 388 cases of forest fires in the State so far and the police have been taking necessary action against the culprits. After several weeks of consistent fires across the State, especially in the Kumaon region, there has been a significant improvement in the situation of forest fires in the past three days. The head of the forest force (HoFF) of Uttarakhand, Dhananjai Mohan stated this in a Press conference in Dehradun on Wednesday. He said that senior officials of the department have been visiting and monitoring the condition personally in the vulnerable areas as per the orders of the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. Besides this, 4,000 forest watchers are also working to prevent and monitor the spread of forest fires. The department has ensured the involvement of local people and agencies at the village level to control the forest fires. On the question of how many wild animals are lost to these fires, the HoFF said, “It is hard to thoroughly analyse the ecological loss that occurs due to the forest fires. It is possible that some small wild animals lost their lives but no large animal was found to have died due to the forest fires so far.” He also stated that weather conditions like insufficient rain in April are the main reason for the forest fires. Mohan said, “The State experienced only six per cent of rainfall in April against about over 30 per cent in April last year. During such situations, the normal practices of locals burning wheat stubble also cause fires in forests.” He said that all forest officials concerned have also been directed to focus on soil and water conservation in their respective areas to ensure the forest retains maximum moisture that will minimise the threat of forest fire in summer.
