Forest fires rage in Uttarakhand again, 180 hectares of forest land destroyed.
Highlights
- ISRO satellite shows 5 forest fires still raging in Uttarakhand
- Six weeks of 'fire season' left before monsoon arrives in the state
- Currently, 180 hectares of forest land in 111 places is on fire
Forest fires are once again raging in the hills of Uttarakhand, which is reeling under a heat wave, and have destroyed nearly 180 hectares of green cover in the Uttarkashi district. Fires are also being reported in the districts of Bageshwar, Nainital and Tehri.
ISRO's National Remote Sensing Center in Hyderabad said today that satellites show six fires raging in north India - five of them in Uttarakhand and one in Jammu and Kashmir. Experts said there are at least six more weeks of "fire season" left before monsoon hits the region.
"Currently 180 hectares of forest land spread over 111 places in Uttarkashi district are in flames," said senior official Shridhar Babu Addanki, adding, "Rangers and Divisional Forest Officers have been asked to rush to the spots where fires are active and extinguish the flames as soon as possible."
Starting February, almost 2000 fires have swept through nearly 4048 hectares of forest land in Uttarakhand and thousands of labourers backed by water-carrying helicopters battled to control them. Four people have been killed.
Uttarkhand, with its Himalayan mountains, rivers, treks and religious sites, is a popular destination for local tourists who flock there to escape the harsh summer of the plains. Some experts have linked the intensity of the blazes to the drought gripping the country.
India is suffering its worst water crisis in years, with the government saying that about 330 million people, or a quarter of the population, are suffering from drought after the last two monsoons failed.
Most places in Uttarakhand have recorded temperatures which are four to five degrees above normal for this time of the year, Vikram Singh of the Met department said that may be one of the factors behind the fresh forest fires and has advised caution.
Forest fires are also raging in areas near the Vaishno Devi Shrine in Jammu and Kashmir's Katra, where air force choppers are being used to douse the flames.