AMN /
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar today said that the forest fire in Uttarakhand will be completely doused in two days. Talking to media outside parliament, Javadekar said the situation was under control now and, only around 60 places out of 1200 places are affected.
He said four people have been arrested from Pauri for allegedly setting the forest on fire and it will be investigated. The Minister said the Centre has also issued alert to states having forest in view of Uttarakhand fire incident.
Forest fire in Kumaon and Garhwal regions has been contained to a large extent. In joint effort made by NDRF, airforce and army, more than 30 per cent forest fire have been controlled. Meanwhile, Uttarakhand high court at Nainital took serious note on a PIL filed on forest fire and ordered central and state governments to submit their reply by this Friday. Efforts to control fire blaze in Garhwal regions are being made on war footing.
More than 1900 bectre of forest land has been affected by forest fire so far. Chief Secretary Shatrughan Singh has stated that Rs 23 crore have been sanctioned to douse the fire. He also stated that direction for inclusion of forest fire prevention work under MGNREGA has also been given. He said the state government is also mooting a long term plan to control forest fire and a proposal in this regard will be sent to the centre shortly.
Meanwhile, helicopters dedicated for Kumaon started its fire fighting sorties in forest of Nainital since this morning. But other helicopter could not take off in Pauri Garhwal, due to poor visibility as the sky was covered with fire fog.
Forest fire in Uttarakhand is under control: Rajnath
The Centre today said, the forest fire situation in Uttarakhand is under control. Intervening into the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that there is no need to worry as the situation is under control.
He said, the Home Ministry, Ministry of Forest and Uttarakhand Administration acted swiftly and took effective measures to douse the forest fire as soon as the incident was reported.
Mr Singh said, currently three teams of National Disaster Response Force, three MI-17 helicopters have been engaged. Mr Singh said, a four member central team of experts has also been sent to Uttarakhand.
About the number of casualties in the incident, the Home Minister said, the State Administration has so far not confirmed whether the casualties resulted from the fire. Earlier,Saugata Roy of TMC and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishnak of BJP raised the issue in the House.
