NDRF asked to remain standby
PrashantNews
PrashantNews
The Uttarakhand Forest Department said on Sunday that the forest fires are under control in the Kumaon region and no major incident has been reported in the last 24 hours even as eight people were taken into preventive custody for trying to ignite such fires.
Meanwhile, forest fires close to an Air Force station and a High Court colony near Ladiyakata and pines areas in Nainital district have been doused with the help of Air Force Mi-17 V5 helicopter by using bambi bucket filling it with waters of the Naini lake, an operation watched by hundreds of people.
“The situation by and large is under control in Kumaon region and no major incident has happened in the last 24 hours,” Chief Conservator of Forests, Kumaon, Prasanna Kumar Patro said
Right now, forest fires are being reported from two-three places in Nainital district, one place each in Champawat, Almora, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar districts.
Patro said that efforts are on to extinguish the fires at other places and they will be brought under control soon.
He said that incidents of fire are increasing in Kumaon due to increased dryness due to heat wave in the lower areas of Champawat and Nainital districts of Uttarakhand bordering Nepal.
Patro said that the fires in Nepal are also being seen in Uttarakhand in satellite pictures.
Significantly, no big fires have been reported in the Garhwal region in the past 24 hours where rains lashed many areas.
According to the forest fire bulletin issued here, during the 24-hour period from Friday evening to Saturday evening, 23 incidents were reported in the state, out of which 16 were from Kumaon region. 34.175 hectares of forest area was affected in these incidents.
A top forest official said eight people, five in Khirsu in Pauri district and three in Bageshwar district, were taken into preventive custody after they tried to ignite forest fires.
Meanwhile, a team of NDRF has been asked to remain on standby in the wake of forest fires in Kumaon region.