Solan: Wildfire smoke adding to patients’ troubles

Ambika Sharma

Solan, May 21

A smoky haze caused by blazing fires in forests are causing hardships to asthma patients. One can see thick plumes of smoke enveloping hills, reducing visibility and triggering a rise in the temperature.

“The prevailing conditions have aggravated woes of patients suffering from respiratory tract and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,” said Dr Amit Ranjan, Medical Officer of Health, Solan.

Water availability has been at all-time low. Residents barely receive water after four to five days. Owing to this, forest fires cannot be controlled in initial stages. Smoke keeps billowing from the fire-hit sites for hours’ altogether.

“I face difficulty in breathing due to smoke in the environment. It has compelled me to use inhaler more frequently. I try to stay indoors, but even that doesn’t help much as pungent pine-whipped air makes it difficult to breathe,” said Ram Nath, a villager from Dharampur.

The pungent smell of pine needle blaze fills the area running into kilometres each time a major fire occurs. A smoke screen can be seen over Solan city as well as in the precincts of Dagshai, around Kasauli, Dharampur as well as on various link roads like Shiller-Sanawar due to large number of ground fires which have been occurring over these areas every now and then.

Chandrika Sharma, Assistant Chief Conservator of Forests, Solan, said, “ Twenty-seven major fire incidents have been reported over an area of 670 hectares in Solan forest division causing a loss of Rs 4 lakh this season.”

She said, “Highways have become the most vulnerable areas as callous tourists and hoteliers throw a lit cigarette or dispose waste in fire. This often leads to uncontrollable fire incidents. At Dharampur, waste was set on fire and left unattended yesterday.”