131 hectares of forest burnt in 75 incidents of forest fire in the state
Dehradun. With the incidents of increasing fire in the forests of the state, the Forest Department has started deployment of fire watchers in various divisions. So far, 131 hectares of forest has been burnt in 75 incidents of forest fire in the state.
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.
These incidents of Vanagni have happened in 33 Garhwal, 29 in Kumaon region and 13 in protected forest areas. In these incidents of forest fire, so far a loss of Rs 51 lakh 94 thousand 420 has been assessed. Chief Conservator of Forests, Forest Fire and Disaster Management Nishant Verma said 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.
