Wildfires flare up again in various parts of Uttarakhand after brief lull

Forest fires have flared up again in various parts of Uttarakhand, with two major fire incidents in the Gauhari range of the Rajaji Tiger Reserve and the trek route to Nilkanth Mahadev temple in Rishikesh.

The blaze that broke out in Gauhari range of the reserve on Thursday evening affected around 1.5 hectares of forest cover, Rajaji Reserve director Saket Badola said on Friday, 31 May.

The fire in Gauhari range of the reserve has been brought under control but fire fighting continues in an area spread over one hectare in the forest near Pundrasu along the trek route to the Nilkanth Mahadev temple, Badola said.

The forests in Barahat, Mukhem, Dunda and Dharasu ranges besides Varunavat hills in the border district of Uttarkashi are also ablaze, Uttarkashi district disaster management officer Devendra Patwal said.

Forest guards, Quick Response Teams, NDRF, SDRF, police and fire brigade personnel are busy dousing the flames in Uttarkashi district, he said.

After nearly a fortnight-long lull which saw a substantial decline in forest fire incidents, wildfires flared up on Thursday with fire incidents in 11 areas affecting more than 13 hectares of forest land across the state, additional chief conservator of forest Nishant Verma said.

There have been 1,167 forest fire incidents this season in which nearly 1600 hectares of land have been affected, he said.

So far, the forest fires have claimed six lives and left five people injured in Uttarakhand, said Verma.