HC adjourns rebels’ case after forest fire

NAINITAL/DEHRADUN: A raging forest fire on Thursday forced the HC of Uttarakhand to adjourn the hearing of a petition by the state’s rebel Congress lawmakers as their counsel could not reach Nainital because of a dense haze.

Senior advocate CA Sundaram’s aides informed HC that his chopper could not take off from Pantnagar because of the smoke from forest fires, which have engulfed 1,432 hectares of lush Himalayan woods in the state’s Garhwal and Kumaon divisions. Dry weather, extreme heat, and windy conditions have caused the fires to spread, making it extremely difficult for the government to contain them. A dense cloud of smoke hung over Na in it al, where th eH C is located. The HC will hear the case again on May 9. The Congress dissidents have challenged the assembly speaker’s decision to disqualify them under the anti-defection law after nine of them sided with the opposition BJP when the House was passing the money bill in March.

Their dissidence was the trigger that prompted the Centre to remove the Congress government of Harish Rawat and bring the hill state under President’s rule on March 27. Rawat won his case in the high court but the Supreme Court reinstated central rule in the state on Wednesday. But rather than the political heat, people in the state are more concerned about forest fires and drought-like conditions. The administration has declared five districts as drought-hit.

“It’s a terrible day today. The winds along with the dryness are sustaining forest fires. The smog isn’t able to disperse, making it a difficult for us,” division forest officer Tejaswini Patil said in Nainital.