Rains hit in parts of UK
PrashantNews
Rains hit parts of Uttarakhand including Dehradun on Wednesday night with the forest department claiming there was substantial decrease in forest fire incidents in the past two days.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami remained in alert mode as he took stock of the situation in the wake of the raging forest fire and put 10 forest personnel under suspension for dereliction of duty in dousing the fire.
Significantly, the Forest Department claimed that the incidents of forest fire are continuously decreasing since the last two days and as a result of the efforts being made to extinguish the forest fire, it will soon be completely controlled.
On the other hand, met department said light showers in parts of the hill state including Champawat and Nainital districts were reported. “This activity will increase which will be very helpful in dousing forest fires,” said Bikram Singh, Director Met department in Dehradun.
In the meeting with senior officials, the Chief Minister gave instructions to make a fire line to prevent the spread of forest fire and also involve public representatives in it. He also asked the secretaries to undertake on-site inspection of the affected areas and take effective steps in this direction.
Apart from creating public awareness, he also asked the District Magistrates to seek public cooperation to control forest fires. He also asked to minimize the response time between receiving information about forest fire and taking action on it.
The Chief Minister also asked to make an effective plan and build Pirul collection centers to collect Pirul (dry leaves of pine trees), which is the main reason for forest fires. He also asked the officials to take strict action against those involved in deliberate incidents of forest fire.
Later, the Chief Minister reached Rudraprayag and collected Pirul leaves scattered in the forest and gave a message to the public to join it. In this regard, the Chief Minister said in a post on social media, ‘I request all the people of the state to join hands with Yuvak Mangal Dal, Mahila Mangal Dal and self-help groups on a large scale to save the forests around them. Try to run it as a campaign.”
He also informed that to prevent forest fire, the government is also working on ‘Bring Pirul-Save Money’ mission under which Pirul will be purchased at the rate of Rs 50 per kg. Dhami said that this mission will be operated by the Pollution Control Board for which a corpus fund of Rs 50 crore will be kept separately.
On the other hand, the Forest Department claimed that the forest fires in various areas of the state have been continuously decreasing for the last two days and they will be completely controlled in the next few days.
According to a press release issued here, 125 major incidents of forest fire were reported in the state on May 6, whereas their number was 46 on May 7. He said that the number of major forest fire incidents reduced to 15 on Wednesday.