“The situation in Uttarakhand is completely under control. I can assure you that there is nothing to worry”, union home minister Rajnath Singh informed the Lok Sabha today.
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Trinamul MP Saugata Roy and BJP member Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had raised the subject during zero hour.
The NDRF and Air Force teams have been deployed to bring the situation under control and to restore normalcy.
Uttarakhand Fire may result in a faster melting of the glaciers in the hill state.
Fire fighting operations and rescue and relief measures were in full swing today in Uttarakhand, even as the government said the fire has been contained to a large extent.
By the end of a year ago, 16% of the areas classified as forests in Uttarakhand were pine plantations.
Thousands of labourers backed by water-carrying helicopters were battling to control fires that have killed two people in India’s northern Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, officials said on Sunday (May 1).
As many as 6,000 personnel comprising NDRF, SDRF, state police, forest staff and volunteers have been deployed to douse the fire.
Blazes were reported from 12 new places in the forests around Shimla, with chief minister Virbhadra Singh saying a rise in temperature caused the fire in Shimla rural forest division that gutted 50 hectares.
“The plan provides for crisis groups at the Centre, state and local levels which take appropriate action to mitigate any crisis arising out of forest fires”, Javadekar had said.
With forest fires still raging in Himachal Pradesh, commuters had to face a tough time on National Highway 22 near Kumarhatti in Solan district on Tuesday.
Due to the raging fire, forests in 3185.45 hectares have been blighted since 2 February. The state has been facing a severe dry spell over the past few months. Fire-line cutting and digging trenches to break the continuity of vegetation must be adopted more widely and systematically to stop a local fire from spreading.
The fires have led to major air pollution and damaged the environment.
Billowing smoke from the hills of Shimla, Kasauli, Chail, Dharampur, Bilaspur and Nahan towns have become common these days. “There were fires at more than 1,200 places earlier”. Often, villagers set fire to grasslands to make way for vegetation when the rains come.
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The fire broke out late night in the forest near old barrier cemetery area on the outskirts of the city.
