Heavy rain douses raging forest fires

Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 1

The heavy downpour doused forest fires in many parts of the state.

The State Forest Department had requested the IAF to provide two choppers from its Pathankot base to put off the fire by sprinkling water in the two worst affected forest divisions of Nurpur and Dalhousie. “By noon, we got an information from both Nurpur and Dalhousie that heavy rain had put off the fire and the help of IAF choppers was not required,” said Alok Nagar, Chief Conservator.

He said while there were reports of 46 forest fires till 7 am on Friday, after the downpour in most parts of the state, this number had come down to 13 by 3 pm. The Friday’s rain has come as a breather for the Forest Department as it will result in moisture, which will prevent fires for at least sometime.

Most parts of the state were lashed by rain, accompanied with high-speed winds. Though the rain was welcome, giving respite from the scorching heat, it also caused damage to mango and some other crops. Palampur and Mandi received the highest rainfall of 8 mm and 6.2 mm, respectively.

People can hope to get respite from the rain as the local Meteorological Department has predicted rain on Saturday as well. The weather is expected to remain dry from June 3 to 5. More rain and thundershowers are predicted from June 6 onwards again.