Woman succumbs to forest fires in Chamoli, 3rd such death in state

Dehradun: A 57-year-old woman died after she sustained burn injuries from a forest fire in Chamoli district, marking the third death related to forest fires as wildfires continued across parts of Uttarakhand on Wednesday.Forest officials said Sureshi Devi had gone to the cattle shed to protect her livestock after noticing flames spreading through the Alaknanda Van Panchayat area which later engulfed the shed and trapped her. She was taken to a hospital but succumbed to severe burn injuries.Earlier, Rajinder Negi, a fire watcher with the forest department, had also died during a firefighting operation, making this the second fatality reported in Chamoli during the current fire season. Another forest worker had fallen into a gorge and died while conducting a fire extinguishing exercise in Nainital.Chamoli DFO Sarvesh Dubey said, “The woman had gone alone despite seeing the fire, which proved fatal. We are now enforcing Section 17 of the Bharatiya Van (Uttaranchal Sanshodhan) Adhiniyam, 2001, under which communities dependent on forests who refuse to assist in firefighting efforts during forest fires may face imprisonment of up to one year and a penalty of Rs 2,000.”Chamoli district is witnessing increased forest fires this season with field staff claiming that careless tourists and villagers are leaving forests alight or even discarding lit cigarette butts on forest floors leading to wildfires. While in some cases even villagers burn the forest floors for germination of fresh grass in the upcoming monsoon.On Wednesday, the Forest Survey of India issued 664 fire alerts to the Uttarakhand forest department. Prolonged fire activity was reported in districts including Almora, Chamoli, Pauri, Tehri, Bageshwar and Uttarkashi, where firefighting operations continue. Forest department data released on Wednesday evening showed that 427 fire incidents affected 357 hectares of forest land across the state this fire season, with Badrinath and Pauri Garhwal among the most impacted areas.In Nainital, a major forest fire broke out in the Patwadangar-Kalauna forest area of the Manora Range. Officials said strong winds contributed to the rapid spread of the fire across a large stretch of woodland. Residents said that forest fires recur every summer and called for long-term preventive measures. Himanshu Pandey, a resident, told TOI that forests catch fire every summer, yet no permanent solution has been implemented to stop such disasters.Nainital DFO Akash Gangwar said response teams were deployed immediately after information about the fire in the Kalauna area was received and the fire was contained.To strengthen firefighting efforts and encourage participation, state forest minister Subodh Uniyal announced that awards would be presented across the state’s 13 districts to recognise notable contributions to forest fire control. The awards will honour forest workers, individuals, and groups involved in firefighting operations. The first, second, and third prizes will carry rewards of Rs 1 lakh, Rs 75,000, and Rs 50,000 respectively.(With inputs from Sonali Mishra in Nainital)