Forest fires in Uttarakhand were brought under control on Sunday, the Centre said, after over 6,100 personnel and three Air Force choppers were deployed to fight the flames.
Latest satellite imagery showed the blaze has been extinguished in over 75% of the affected area in the hill state. A Home Ministry spokesperson said the situation is "under control".
Three Indian Air Force helicopters (1 ALH and 2 Mi 17) fitted with Bambi buckets have been deployed to douse the flames. They dumped loads of water on forest fires raging for days in Nainital and Pauri districts.
There were, however, reports that the fire has spread to neighbouring Himachal Pradesh with outbreaks spotted in rural Shimla.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the forest fire situation with top officials of the Uttarakhand government. A four-member Central team of experts, including Special Director Centre for Fire Explosives, KC Wadha, and director of Delhi Fire Services, GC Misra, have reached Uttarakhand.
Forest officials suspect the unprecedented fire could be a man-made disaster. Several people have been arrested so far.
There is also a raging blame game, with the Congress, which was recently ousted from power in the state , accusing the Centre of reacting too late. "The Modi government has been unable to tackle one of the biggest environmental tragedies of Uttarakhand," party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.
The fire, which started in the first week of February, has killed seven people and destroyed 2,269 hectares of forested land.
Comments
0 comment