Forest fire in this season in Himachal Pradesh has so far engulfed 2733 hectares of forest land, causing severe loss to the Forest Department. Himachal Pradesh is one of the worst affected States prone to forest fire incidents after Uttrakhand. This causes enormous loss to flora and faunaand to the thick vegetation spread in over 3700 sqkm forest cover across the State.
According to the latest data recorded by the State forest department, with the rise of temperature in the State, total of 351 incidents of forest fire has been reported in the month of May and June so far and 2733 hectare land had been engulfed.
The fire has caused loss to plantation done in around 500 hectare of forest land apart from loss to flora and fauna. The total loss calculated by the forest department amounts to around ` 29 lakh and is bound to increase with the spate of rising incidents.
The biggest district of the State, Kangra has over 90, 000 hectare of forest cover and it is the worst affected. This season also 88 incidents of forest fire have been reported affecting nearly 500 hectare of forest land. Chamba district has reported 70 incidents,
Mandi-58 incidents, Hamirpur-53 incidents, Bilaspur-30 incidents, Shimla-22 incidents and Nahan-16 incidents. last year, Himachal Pradesh was severely affected due to the forest fire and 1798 incidents were reported affecting 20, 774 hectares of forest land and causing a loss of over ` 2.75 crores to the State forest department.