Over 140 hectares gutted in Uttarakhand forest res

Air Force deploys helicopter as ames threaten a base near Nainital; Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami says Army has been called in to assist in reghting; 108 res reported in 72 hours

Massive forest žres sweeping through the dense foliage in the mountains of Uttarakhand for the past 72 hours have gutted over 142 hectares of forest land in the State. With a žre reaching the vicinity of an Air Force Station near the Nanda range, the Indian Air Force on Saturday deployed a Mi-17 V5 helicopter to douse the ‰ames using a ‘Bambi Bucket’.

The Forest Department said 23 fresh forest žres were reported on Saturday. Thirty-one such žres were reported on Friday and 54 on Thursday.

The Indian Army, on the request of the Forest Department, has also deployed two columns for žrežghting in Kumaon.

District Forest O¢cer, Nainital, Chandra Shekhar Joshi told The Hindu that a forest žre was žrst reported earlier this week in the Nanda range, and it later spread downwards.

“The IAF has sought permission from the district administration to draw water from the Bhimtal Lake using Bambi Bucket. They are dousing the žre near their establishment, while the rest of the žres are being controlled by the Forest Department,” Mr. Joshi said.

The Bambi Bucket in a Mi-17 V5 helicopter can hold up to 3,500 litres of water at a time.

Mr. Joshi said the žre spread around 10 km from the city of Nainital and all e˜orts were being taken to bring it under control.

Expressing concern over the raging forest žres, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the government was working hard to bring them under control.

“The forest žres are a challenge for us. This is a big žre. We are working for all the essential needs. We have asked for help from the Army... I am going to conduct a meeting in Haldwani today. We have conducted a meeting in Dehradun also regarding this. We will try to control the žre as soon as possible,” he said, adding that the respective district administrations had been directed to take action against those found guilty of setting žre to the forests.

The forest žre protection team formed under the leadership of Divisional Forest O¢cer of Rudraprayag caught a person named Naresh Bhatt from Tadiyal village, Tehsil-Jakholi.

He was trying to set žre to the forests to pave a way for grazing of goats, the district administration said in a press release.

In another arrest, Hemant Singh and Bhagwati Lal were caught for allegedly starting a žre in the Dangwal village of North Jakholi. The accused were booked under the Indian Forest Act 1927 and sent to jail.

ANI Red alert: A firefighter works on dousing a fire in the mountains near Nainital. As many as 23 new forest fires were reported in Uttarakhand on Saturday.