Cong condoles death of forest officials in fire
By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 14 Jun: Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee President Karan Mahara today issued a statement expressing grief at the death of four forest employees in the fire in Binsar sanctuary area of Almora and expressed deep condolences to the bereaved families. Mahara also wished for the speedy recovery of the injured in this incident. The PCC Chief also demand free treatment from the Uttarakhand government for those injured and compensation of Rs 25 lakhs to the kin of each deceased employee. He further demanded that one family member each of those who perished in the forest fire must be appointed in the forest department so that the family can be supported.
Mahara claimed that a medical college was established in Almora during the Congress government but it has been learnt that till date there is no burns ward in Almora Medical College, so how would the employees injured in the fire be treated. He said that the condition of all medical colleges and other hospitals is the same and, in many hospitals there is no doctor, while in others, there is a shortage of staff. Somewhere there are no specialisation wards, and in other hospitals, there are no technicians, similarly the condition of emergency health services is also bad.
The Congress leader reminded that the total forest area of Uttarakhand is over 45 percent. The Congress Party has been continuously demanding the Central Government to give green bonus to Uttarakhand so that trees can be planted on barren land in the state. He alleged that the BJP government has not given green bonus to Uttarakhand. He said that till date about 17 forest workers have died due to forest fires in the state. Putting the state government in the dock, he claimed that the forests of the state have been on fire for a long time, but the forest department has not been able to take any concrete steps to douse them, due to which the forest workers are tragically facing a lot of difficulties. He also accused the government of not having made any concrete policy on how to save forests from fires, and as a result the forest workers are dying. He said that, due to forest fires, trees and plants are burning and sources of drinking water are continuously drying up. Wild animals are also getting harmed.
Karan Mahara said that the government does not have any concrete action plan to control forest fires and neither are there fire suits for temporary employees, nor is there any insurance scheme. Due to which the state government has to take the help of the army. It is clear from this that the government has completely failed.
