Injured forest officials in Almora airlifted to AIIMS Delhi
By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 14 Jun: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has ordered strict action against some forest officers in the case of the fire in Binsar forest of Almora. Dhami ordered attachment of Chief Conservator of Forests Kumaon to the State Headquarters and suspension of Conservator of Forests, North, and the DFO, Almora. Besides this, the CM also ordered that those injured in the Binsar fire incident be airlifted to AIIMS in Delhi.
Today, on the orders of the Chief Minister, the State Forest Department has initiated action against some of its senior forest officers for alleged ‘negligence’ in the forest fire incident in Binsar Forest area in district Almora. It may be recalled that on Thursday, four forest employees including one PRD Jawan were killed in the forest fire in Binsar when their vehicle caught fire, while 4 others were injured. Three senior forest officers have been severely reprimanded by the government on the orders of the CM.
It is reported that those injured are still critical. They were referred to a Higher Centre in Almora but the medical college in Almora does not apparently have a burns ward and, hence, the CM had to order airlifting the injured to AIIMS in New Delhi. As per the eye-witnesses, the fire was so fierce that the fire watchers and PRD personnel did not even get a chance to escape from it on Thursday when their vehicle caught fire. When the forest department officials got information about the team being trapped in the forest, forest officer Manoj Sanwal and other employees reached the spot but, by then, four officials had died while four others were injured critically.
Those who had died in the forest fire are forest beat officer Binsar range Trilok Singh Mehta (40), son of Narayan Singh, resident of Udalgaon Barechhina; daily wage worker Diwan Ram (35), son of Padi Ram and resident of village Sauda Kapdakhan, fire watcher Karan Arya (21) son of Bishan Ram and resident of Kapdakhan and PRD jawan Puran Singh (50) son of Diwan Singh and resident of village Kalaun. In addition, those injured were Fire watcher Krishna Kumar (21); PRD jawan Kundan Singh Negi (44); vehicle driver Bhagwat Singh Bhoj (38) and daily wage worker Kailash Bhatt (54).
This morning, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami first contacted the air services to douse the fire in the forests of Binsar. He also directed engagement of heli-ambulance for better treatment of the injured and spoke to AIIMS Administration in New Delhi for treatment of the injured. This is in addition to ordering action against the negligent forest officers. It is not often that the state government acts against senior forest officers but the CM held senior officers to be responsible for the mishap. The CM also observed that the government has clearly directed senior officers to reach the spot in case of such incidents but in this case, negligence was shown.
10 died in forest fires this year, 1220 fire incidents reported
So far, 10 have died, many more have been injured while more than 1,600 hectares of forest land has been gutted. Forest wealth has also been damaged in thousands of hectares of area in the state due to forest fires. This time the forests turned mostly turned dry due to lack of rain and snowfall in the winters and the spring and therefore the fire incidents began during the winter itself this year. As the temperatures increased, the incidents of forest fires increased.
In all, 1220 incidents of forest fires have occurred in the state from November 2023 till yesterday this season. Of these, 591 incidents occurred in Kumaon division, 523 in Garhwal division and 106 in wildlife reserves. Forest wealth in an area of 1657 hectares has been affected. Usually, the fire season lasts till 15 June, but sources claimed that this year the duration of fire season is being extended.
Speaking to Garhwal Post, Additional Chief Forest Conservator, Forest Fire Control, Nishant Verma stated that all DFOs and other officials have been given instructions to remain alert like fire season till 20 June and to keep fire watchers deployed. After this, further steps will be taken by reviewing the situation.
