Dehradun: Troops from the Indian Air Force and Indian Army swung into action to douse the raging forest fires in Uttarakhand's Nainital district. A forest fire has been sweeping through the dense forests in the mountains surrounding Nainital over the last 36 hours, reports said.
The cause of the forest fire is yet to be ascertained. Notably, the forest has been blazing for more than 36 hours. It became more severe on Friday with the flames reaching the High Court Colony in Nainital. Three persons were arrested in Rudraprayag on Friday while trying to set fire to the forests.
Reacting to the incidents, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami assured that the fires would soon be brought under control. “The Army is also being asked for help in this regard and the fire is being extinguished through helicopters. Today, I will also hold a meeting with the officials in Haldwani regarding the issue of forest fires,” the CM said.
Meanwhile, Nainital Municipal Corporation Executive Officer Rahul Anand said that they had received information of IAF helicopters seeking permission to take water from Nainital to douse the fire.
"To make arrangements, we closed boating in the lake for the day. Fire is reported in Nainital in many places, including very close to the Air Force Station in the district. The main purpose of bringing in helicopters to douse the fire was to keep the Air Force Station safe," he added.
Yesterday, within a 24-hour period, 26 incidents of forest were reported in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. Five cases were reported in Garhwal alone. During that time, 33.34 hectares of forest area were impacted overall.
Nainital Divisional Forest Officer Chandrashekhar Joshi said, “We have deployed 40 Manora Range personnel and two forest rangers to extinguish the fire.” According to the daily bulletin issued by the Forest Department, 26 incidents of forest fire occurred in the state’s Kumaon region in the last 24 hours, while five incidents occurred in Garhwal region, where 33.34 hectares of forest area was affected.
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