India: Army mobilised as massive forest fire engulfs Nainital's High Court colony
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Nainital forest fire: Efforts to extinguish the fire are underway to prevent it from reaching sensitive Indian Army areas near the Pines.
The forest fire in Nainital, Uttarakhand, worsened on Friday night (April 26), spreading to the High Court Colony area. Over the past 24 hours, 31 new incidents of forest fires were reported across the state, resulting in the destruction of 33.34 hectares of forest land. Three individuals were arrested in Rudraprayag on Friday while attempting to ignite forest fires.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has instructed officials to stay vigilant and implement measures to prevent fires by coordinating with all relevant departments.
The forest fire near the Nainital district headquarters escalated into a dangerous situation, endangering the residents of High Court Colony situated in the Pine area.
It also disrupted traffic flow in the vicinity. In addition to forest department staff, military personnel are assisting in fire suppression efforts. Authorities are considering the deployment of helicopters to extinguish the blaze.
Air Force helicopters are being used to extinguish the fire spreading in the forests of Nainital in Uttarakhand
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But this is the story of every time...How to save Uttarakhand's forests? pic.twitter.com/4hhbFPjyAa
Anil Joshi, a resident of the area and assistant registrar of the High Court said, "The fire has engulfed an old and vacant house located near The Pines. It has not caused any damage to High Court Colony but it has reached dangerously close to the buildings. Efforts are being made to control the fire since evening."
Efforts are underway to extinguish the fire promptly to prevent it from reaching sensitive areas of the Indian Army near the Pines. Additionally, the district administration has prohibited boating on Naini Lake due to the blaze.
Nainital Divisional Forest Officer Chandrashekhar Joshi said, "We have deployed 40 Manora Range personnel and two forest rangers to extinguish the fire."
As per the latest bulletin from the Forest Department, there were 26 incidents of forest fires in the Kumaon region and five in the Garhwal region within the past 24 hours, affecting a total of 33.34 hectares of forest area.
Since November 1 of last year, the state has witnessed a total of 575 forest fire incidents, impacting 689.89 hectares of forest land and incurring a cost of over $17k.
Additionally, three individuals were arrested and jailed for allegedly initiating forest fires in Jakholi and Rudraprayag. Abhimanyu, the Divisional Forest Officer in Rudraprayag, stated in a press release that the arrests were made by a team dedicated to forest fire prevention. Naresh Bhatt, a sheep herder from Tadiyaal village in Jakholi, was arrested while attempting to set fire to the forest.
(With inputs from agencies)