By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 11 Mar: With the incidents of increasing fire in the forests of the state, the Forest Department has begun the deployment of fire watchers in various divisions. The department claims that this will prove to be helpful in getting information regarding forest fires in time and tackling the same. It may be recalled that due to 60 percent lesser rains this winter in the state, the possibility of forest fires has increased manifold. Already, seven incidents of forest fire have been reported in the state in past 24 hours. So far 75 incidents of forest fire have come to the fore across the state even as summer is yet to settle in.
Fire watchers are deployed every year during the fire season in the state. They are hired for a fixed period of time at the minimum wage rate. This time the deployment of fire watchers was delayed due to technical problems. Now the fire watchers are being deployed in the divisions on behalf of the divisional forest officers.
So far, 131 hectares of forest has been burnt in 75 incidents of forest fire in the state. Of them, 33 cases have been reported from Garhwal and 29 from the Kumaon region. Of these, 13 cases have been reported from the protected forest areas. In these forest fire incidents, a loss of Rs 52 lakhs has been estimated so far. Chief Conservator of Forests, Forest Fire and Disaster Management Nishant Verma informed Garhwal Post that every possible effort is being made to deal with forest fires. Apart from keeping fire watchers, the divisional forest officers have also been asked to take cooperation of the people of the community.
