It is extremely cold in the northern states across the country.
Fog has troubled people in the plain cities, while on the other hand, the minus temperatures in the hilly districts are making people shiver.
Amidst the severe cold and minimum temperature of minus 1 degree Celsius, the forests adjacent to the higher Himalayan region are burning in flames.
Forest wealth is being damaged due to forest fires at 9 places in Pithoragarh districts of Uttarakhand.
Local people allege that forest fires are set at this time to hunt rare species of wild animals coming to the valley from the high Himalayan region, however, forest department officials reject such reasons.
At an altitude of more than 10 thousand feet above sea level, the temperature is reaching less than minus 3. Everyone is shocked by the incidents of fire burning in the forests there.
On Friday, smoke from the fire continued to rise throughout the day in many forests including Panchchuli, Balati, Chiplakedar, Patharkot, Kultham.
People are not able to understand the logic of the Forest Department for setting fire for grass in forests about 2 to 5 km away from human populated areas.
Musk deer, monal, gural, kakad, snow leopard as well as many rare species of wild animals are found in these forests. This is the sixth incident of fire in these Himalayan forests in the last 20 days.
However, after the forest fire incident in the past, the Forest Department team reached the spot and extinguished the fire. Sarpanch Ganesh Singh Danu of Galla Patharkot has given a letter to the DFO saying that it is dangerous for outsiders to come into the forests.
Said that such fires are set for illegal hunting of wild animals. The Forest Department should take serious steps to stop this.
Forest Department fails to stop the incidents of fire happening every year: Chairman of Malla Johar Development Committee, Shriram Singh Dharamshattu has expressed anger over the incidents of fire in the forests. It is said that every year the forests are burning during the winter season.
The Forest Department is not able to catch the unruly elements after such incidents. NSUI Didihat Mandal President Vikram Danu said that every year the Forest Department has a budget to extinguish fires in May-June. There is no arrangement to extinguish fire during winter.
Said that forest department posts should be made here to extinguish the fire. Here, it takes two days for the forest department team to reach the fire places in the foothills of Panchachuli, 21 km from here. The team that went on Friday may take time to reach there.
After getting information about the fire incident, the Forest Department team was dispatched in the morning itself. The fire will be extinguished soon.
Jeevan Mohan Dagade, DFO, Pithoragarh.
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