90 fire cases on Wednesday: Chief Secy

Tribune news service

Dehradun, May 4

Ninety forest fire incidents had taken place in Uttarakhand on Wednesday. The state administration and Forest Department officials are now eagerly awaiting rain with the MeteorologicalDepartment forecasting showers over the next few days in the state.

Chief Secretary Shatrughan Singh today said of the 90 forest fire incidents in Uttarakhand, 76 were controlled due to timely efforts.

No MI 17 helicopter was used today as their necessity for forest fire operations was not felt.

Shatrughan said the state administration was mulling formulating both short-term and long-term measures to ensure a proper solution to the challenge of forest fires. Besides prompt measures, it was also important to take long-term measures to curb the recurrring forest fires.

He said forest fires would in no way affect the Char Dham Yatra beginning shortly.

“Forest fires have been controlled and these will in no way affect the Char Dham Yatra,” he added.

Meanwhile, Additional Chief Secretary S Ramaswamy said five persons had died in forest fires so far. A total of 1,681 forest fire incidents had been reported in the state, affecting 3,739 hectares of forests.

On the other hand, rain in Almora today helped extinguish forest fires. The Gevar valley region in Almora experienced rain in the afternoon hours, leading to dousing of the raging forest fires in the region.

Pithroagarh, Champawat and Ranikhet districts also experienced rain this morning.

Showers in Uttarkashi and Rudraprayag districts also helped douse forest fires blazing in the region for the past few days.