Srinagar: With dry spell continuing in Jammu and Kashmir, forest cover in the union territory is at high risk of fires, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Thursday.
The Authority issued a warning today of a very high risk of forest fires in Jammu and Kashmir over the next seven days. "The prolonged dry spell in the region has led to a sharp rise in forest fire incidents," it said in its alert.
Even though the Valley is going through the coldest period of Chalai Kalan, the weather has mostly remained dry with a single moderate spell of snow in the second week of the Chalai Kalan.
A senior forest officer told ETV Bharat the department has alerted its Control Rooms across the Union Territory. The Jammu & Kashmir Union Territory has a significant forest cover with Kashmir having the highest cover. "Forest cover in Kashmir valley is at low risk as of now due to moisture availability of the snowfall. But the Chenab range in the Doda-Kishtwar belt is at high risk as it has very less moisture as of today," the officer said.
He said that in view of the warning the emergency control rooms and other fire-fighting mechanisms have been put on ready in case there is any such incident.
As per the Meteorological Department of Jammu and Kashmir, the Union Territory of JK received less precipitation with an 81 per cent deficit. Last year, Jammu and Kashmir witnessed an unprecedented rainfall deficit making it the driest year in the region in the past 50 years.
The MeT and other data suggest the Union Territory received 870.9 mm of rainfall in 2024 compared to the normal annual average of 1,232.3 mm, causing 29% deficit rainfall. It was for the fifth consecutive year that Jammu & Kashmir recorded below-normal rainfall, showing an alarming pattern.
