PrashantNews
After suspending two forest officials in the wake of the Binsar wildlife sanctuary incident in Uttarakhand in which four persons were killed, an inquiry has also been ordered, top forest officials said on Tuesday.
HOFF Dhananjay Mohan has been asked to submit the inquiry report to the government, the officials said.
Last week, the government took a strong action by suspending two top forest officials under the orders of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. Koka Rose, Forest Conservator Kumaon North, and Dhruv Singh Martolia, DFO Civil Soyam Almora, were placed under suspension. P K Patro, Chief Forest Conservator Kumaon was attached with the headquarters in Dehradun.
The incident occurred at Binsar wildlife sanctuary in Almora on Thursday when eight forest personnel were going in the jungles to control the forest fires. The forest department personnel alighted from Bolero vehicle to douse forest fires inside the sanctuary. Moments later, the flames became uncontrollable and spread engulfing the forest personnel. The impact of the raging flames was so intense that it gave no chance to the four forest personnel to escape. The inferno had encircled them completely. All the four died on the spot.
The fire continued to spread fast in which four other personnel also received severe burn injuries. The Boleoro vehicle was also burnt in the incident.
“This is a matter of investigations what happened on the fateful day at Binsar. But what we heard was that the intensity of the fire was so huge that it was equivalent to a petrol bomb,” said a forest official. “I would say that such kind of incident is very rare in forests,” said another official.
Last month, three Nepalese labourers were killed in a resin factory at Almora forest division which caught fire due to forest fires.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed grief over the incident and said the family members of the deceased would get a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each.