Uttarakhand forest fires: Air services remain suspended for 2nd day due to poor visibility

PTI

Dehradun, May 4

With forest fires still raging in Uttarakhand, newly appointed Head of Forest Force Dhananjai Mohan on Saturday asked officials of the department to address all fire alerts on priority and reduce the response time.

Uttarakhand reported 18 forest fire incidents on Saturday in which 21.86 hectares of forest land were gutted. 

Air services to Pithoragarh and Munsiyari towns of the border district remained suspended for the second day on Saturday due to poor visibility around the Naini-Saini airport caused by smoke rising from the burning forests.

Visibility around the airport and its surroundings remained less than 1000-metre, which is required to be at least 5,000 metres for air fliers to operate, officials said.

Mohan, who held a meeting with officials to review the forest fire situation in the state, asked the chief conservator of forests and the divisional forest officers to focus primarily on large and long-duration forest blazes.

He asked them to try involving the local communities more in firefighting operations in their areas so that blazes are quelled before they flare up. 

“Reducing response time is the main thing which can be achieved by involving the local communities in the fire extinguishing operations more and more,” Mohan told reporters after the review meeting. 

He also asked the officials to take action under the forest act against people who ignite forest fires deliberately in order to have fresh grass for their cattle, or burning garbage or stubble in the open.

More than 1,000 hectares of forest land have been destroyed in forest fires across Uttarakhand since November last year. 

On Friday, three labourers of a pine resin factory in Almora died while dousing the flames. Five others have also been injured in different parts of the state in forest fire incidents.

Though forests are burning throughout the state, Kumaon region has been hit hard as it has reported the majority of fire incidents. 

The region has reported more than 460 fire incidents so far since November 1 in which more than 623 hectares of forest land were gutted. 

Smog engulfed Nainital town on Friday as a result of smoke rising from the forests. 

Doctors said smoke-filled air could aggravate the problems of people suffering from bronchitis and asthma.

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