Though the forest fire season in Uttarakhand starts from February 15, the first recorded forest fire incident in the State this year was reported on April 5 when four fires were reported from the Terai East forest division.
Since then at least 100 incidents of forest fires have been reported from different parts of Uttarakhand. Though there has been no major incident so far, a rise in forest fires cannot be ruled out with the peak of summer in June yet to be experienced.
Activists have already been alleging that the department has done little concrete to effectively tackle forest fires which cause major damage to the forest wealth of the State every year.
Forest fires this year have been reported from reserve forests, protected wildlife areas and non-forest areas. The western circle of the State forest department has been the worst affected due to the forest fires this season with nearly half of the recorded incidents this year taking place in this circle.
Of these forest fire cases, the prominent include 11 forest fire incidents on May 2, which had taken place in the Terai East, Terai Central and Terai West forest divisions of this circle. Earlier, eight fire incidents took place on April 20 and six on May 1, all in the western circle.
As far as protected wildlife areas are concerned, both the Corbett tiger reserve and Rajaji national park have started experiencing forest fires. While 14 cases were reported in Corbett, a comparatively fewer four incidents were reported from Rajaji.
Of the fire incidents in Corbett, five were reported on April 17 from Bijrani and Sarpduli ranges, six were reported from Kalagarh range on May 10 and the latest was reported on May 13 from Sonawadi area.
Of the four cases in Rajaji, two were reported from Haridwar range on April 15 while the other two were reported from Kansaro range on May 10.
Activists have already alleged irregularities in the selection of tenders for purchase of tools to be used in fighting forest fires.
However, officials stress that the department staff is alert, measures have been taken to raise public awareness and other steps have also been taken to tackle forest fires efficiently.