Forest fire rages in Uttarkashi
MUSSOORIE: Uttarkashi has become the first district to experience raging forest fires this year, which have devastated several hectares of forest land on Wednesday, officials said.
Devendra Patwal, district disaster management authority officer, said,” Around 0.20 hectares of forest have been affected by fire in Uttarkashi forest division and 3.65 hectare in Tons forest division taking the total to 3.85 hectares, as per the forest department data received by us.”
The residents of Uttarkashi district are fearful the forest fires could be more severe in the coming days with the temperatures rising.
Suresh Chauhan, a resident from Uttarkashi, said, “This is the beginning of summer season and the forest fires have begun despite tall claims of the forest department about setting a up an immediate response system to douse such fires. The departments concerned have to pull up their socks to control such incidents, otherwise it will result in loss of rich biodiversity of the region.”
Punit Tomar, divisional forest officer of Uttarkashi, said, “With the onset of summer season, forest fire alerts are on the rise and presently we are experiencing forest fire near Dunda block area. We have deployed subordinate staff and increased the number of fire watchers to control it; we are making all efforts so that it does not spread to other areas.”
Environmentalists are of the view that the anthropogenic activities during summer are the root cause of forest fires. Out of ignorance villagers burn grass with an expectation to get fresh growth in monsoon. This results in maximum forest fire cases and this practice needs to be stopped, environmentalists say.
“All the range officers have been directed to take strict action which includes heavy fines and even a jail term for those persons indulging in burning grass near the forest areas of the district,” DFO Tomar said. “We are also conducting workshops at the village level to sensitise them about the dangers of such practice and urging them to immediately alert the forest department if they see any forest fire at the earliest so that the quick response mechanism can be activated.”
Since February 15, the forest department has been engaged in sensitising people about the ill effects of grass burning and the risk it poses to the forests. Apart from this, 36 crew stations have been activated and master control rooms have been set up in the district and the vigil has been stepped up, said officials.
Another minor forest fire was also reported under the Mussoorie forest division which was doused by a forest department team on Wednesday after a struggle for half an hour, said the forest department officials.
Divisional forest officer, Mussoorie,Kahkashan Naseem said, “A forest fire was experienced near the information directorate in Dehradun district which was doused promptly by the team that rushed to spot within half an hour.”
The state forest department is also taking the help of social media to monitor the forest fires through the official handles that were launched in 2019 on Instagram and other microblogging sites along with the traditional methods, said forest officials.
Forest fires have become an annual feature. With soaring temperatures, Uttarakhand starts experiencing forest fires from mid-February, when the trees shed dry leaves and the soil loses moisture, and this continues till mid-June.
Forest fires are generally reported from February to June. They usually peak in May and June. Over 90% of wildfires are man-made. The fires impact biodiversity, be it the microorganisms in the soil, wildlife, small insects and people living in and around the forests, affecting the overall ecology of an area.
Uttarakhand has a forest area of over 38,000 sq km which constitutes 71% of total geographical area of state. More area under forests with human habitations nearby means more chances of forest fire. In Uttarakhand, 0.17% of total forest cover comes under the extremely fire-prone category, 1.60% under very highly fire-prone, 9.32% under highly fire-prone, 21.66% under moderately fire-prone and 67.25% under less fire-prone category.