By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 4 May: Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader Yashpal Arya today claimed that the forest fires are raging continuously, but the government is sleeping over this. Accusing the state government of failing to control the forest fires, Arya reminded that the forest fires in Uttarakhand have assumed very serious proportions. Precious forest wealth in Kumaon and Garhwal is being damaged due to forest fires. Expressing his concern over the fires in the forests of the state, he apprehended that due to the forest fires, along with the damage to the forests, a serious threat has also emerged to the animals and the environment.
Arya asserted that due to the fires, water sources are drying up, the fire in the burning forests of the state is also affecting the glaciers. Due to this a serious threat has developed for the environment in the state. Arya said that water, forests and land are a top heritage. But every year there is a loss of crores of rupees due to forest fires. He has called it a serious challenge for the future. He said that when the forests, water sources and glaciers of the state will not survive, then the existence of the mountains will also not survive.
Arya says that he is not accusing any government, but is stating the truth and drawing attention towards the warning. He said that the land in the hills is sinking and the forests are burning, but the government has no concrete action plan to stop it. Even in the forest department, there is a shortage of forest personnel and the government also does not seem to be serious to tackle this, Instead of being serious about forests, the BJP government is more focussed on ongoing election campaigning and electoral politics. He believes that a worrying situation is going to arise due to the fire in the forests of the state and it is time that immediate attention is paid to tackle the challenge.
