Uttarakhand Forest Fire

Uttarakhand suffers from a glaring lack of essential infrastructure required for effective forest fire management, an amicus curiae report in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) said on a matter regarding leaf burning in the Badkot forest range along the Rishikesh-Dehradun Road. Earlier in April, the NGT appointed advocate Gaurav Bansal as the amicus curiae (friend of the court) to assist with the case. The report, dated October 14 and submitted to the NGT last week, said it was imperative to address the critical deficiencies and violations hindering effective forest fire management in the state. "The state of Uttarakhand suffers from a glaring lack of essential infrastructure required for effective forest fire management. This includes a shortage of firefighting equipment (such as protective goggles, protective gears, weapons etc.), insufficient patrolling vehicles to access remote areas, and a dearth of communication devices such as wireless and satellite phones essential for ...

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday urged the Centre and the Uttarakhand government to take steps to prevent forest fire incidents and make effective efforts with everyone's cooperation to save the Himalayas. Her remarks came after four forest workers were killed and four others injured while extinguishing a fire at the Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary under the Civil Soyam Forest Division in Almora district of Uttarakhand. In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, "The news of the death of four employees who went to extinguish the forest fire in Almora, Uttarakhand and many others getting injured is extremely saddening. I pray to God for everyone. I request the state government to provide compensation and assistance at every possible level to the affected families." The forests of Uttarakhand have been burning continuously for the past several months and hundreds of hectares of forest have been destroyed, she noted. There are reports of forest fires in Himachal Pradesh as well, s

Uttarakhand Chief Secretary said that in order to streamline the process of Darshan at the Dhams, state government has started a process of registration for Chardham Yatra

More than 50 lakh large farmland trees vanished between 2018 and 2022 in India, partly due to altered cultivation practices, revealing a "concerning trajectory," new research published in the journal Nature Sustainability has found. Researchers said that "an observable trend was emerging" wherein agroforestry systems are being replaced with paddy rice fields, even as a certain loss rate could be found to be natural. Large and mature trees within these agroforestry fields are removed, and trees are now being cultivated within separate block plantations typically with lower ecological value, they said. Block plantations, usually involving fewer species of trees, were found to have increased in numbers which some villagers from Telangana, Haryana, Maharashtra and other states confirmed via interviews. The team, including researchers from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, explained that the decision to remove trees is often driven by perceived low benefits of the trees, coupled wi

Slamming the Uttarakhand government for its "lackadaisical" approach in controlling forest fires, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the state's chief secretary to personally present himself before it on May 17 to give explanation, including on utilisation of funds and vacancies in forest department. Terming it a "very sorry state of affairs", the apex court said the state was just trying to find some excuse or the other. A bench headed by Justice B R Gavai directed that the staff and vehicles of the forest departments of states shall not be requisitioned for election purposes or any other purposes like the 'Char Dham Yatra'. "We are at pains to say that the approach of state of Uttarakhand in controlling the fires is, to say the least, lackadaisical. Though action plans have been prepared and finalised, no steps are being taken for implementation of the same," said the bench, also comprising Justices SVN Bhatti and Sandeep Mehta. The top court was hearing a plea on raging for

Five lives have been lost so far due to out-of-control wildfires in Uttarakhand, which started more than a week ago and have now spread to several regions in the state

Globally, 2023 stands out as the year with the highest tree cover lost due to fires

The firefighting operation in Uttarakhand's forests with the help of an Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter continued for the second day on Sunday with the blaze brought to control in several areas, officials said. Efforts have also intensified to extinguish the raging forest fires in the state, especially in the worst-affected areas of Nainital, Haldwani and Ramnagar forest divisions, forest officials here said on Sunday. The forest fires are gradually being controlled with the flames already doused in many areas. The fires in Marora and Khanana civil areas in Maniknath range of the Narendranagar forest division have been completely extinguished, they said. The forest blaze in Nainital and adjoining areas is gradually being brought under control after the deployment of an IAF helicopter for the firefighting operations on Saturday morning, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said after reviewing the situation in the Kumaon region on Saturday night. According to the Indian Air Force, a

An IAF helicopter was pressed into service on Saturday to extinguish the raging forest fires in Uttarakhand's Nainital district, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said. The situation in the district worsened on Friday with the flames reaching the High Court Colony in the Pines area. An MI-17 helicopter collected water in a Bambi Bucket from Bhimtal lake and poured it over the burning forests of Pines, Bhumiadhar, Jyolikot, Narayan Nagar, Bhawali, Ramgarh and Mukteshwar areas of the district, officials said. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said all efforts are being made to bring the fires under control and it will be done soon. "An IAF helicopter has already started dousing the fires," he said. Dhami said he will hold a meeting with forest officials in Haldwani later in the day to review the situation. Three people were arrested in Rudraprayag on Friday while trying to set fire to forests. As many as 31 fresh incidents of forest fire were reported from various parts of the s

Forest fires in Uttarakhand became more severe on Friday with the flames reaching the High Court Colony in Nainital. Three persons were arrested in Rudraprayag on Friday while trying to set fire to the forests. In the last 24 hours, 31 new incidents of forest fire were reported from various parts of the state, destroying 33.34 hectares of forest land. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has asked the officials to remain on alert and take measures to prevent the fires by coordinating with all departments. The fire that broke out in the forest near Nainital district headquarters took a horrific form, posing a threat to the residents of High Court Colony located in the Pines area. It also affected the traffic movement in the area. Along with the forest department employees, army personnel are also trying to control the fire. Authorities may deploy helicopters to put it out. Anil Joshi, a resident of the area and assistant registrar of the High Court said, "The fire has ..

Tribunal also said, "We have considered the matter as reported in the media and are of the view that remedial action is required to control the fire and also to prevent future fires."

Over the years, thousands of people in Dehradun and other cities and towns in the plains have encroached upon the riverbeds

In the last 2 or 3 days, forest fires have broken out with seething frenzy in many areas of the hill state, and are threatening to destroy the rich plant and animal wealth of the Himalayan region

Amit Shah said the government has ordered the deployment of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams and helicopters in Uttarakhand to tackle forest fires in the state

Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said old pictures of forest fires in Chile and China are being circulated on social media platforms to claim that fire broke out in the forests

Currently 180 hectares of forest land spread over 111 places in the district are in flames

Petition by NGT alleges that a 'nexus of timber mafia, some greedy villagers and officials' was suspected to be behind the fire incidents

A below-average rain in winter, coupled with changes in the very nature of the forest of the region, is taking a toll on the state

Tourism to Corbett and Almora could be particularly hit as a result of the fire, which has destroyed 2,200 hectares of forest

Number of active fires drop sharply to 40 in the hill state; Centre claims the situation is "under control"