Voicing concern over the forest fires raging in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday issued show cause notices to both the States even as it expressed shock that everybody was taking the issue “so casually.”
Meanwhile, the authorities in Himachal Pradesh remained on a high alert and in Uttarakhand fire-fighting efforts involving 11,160 State Government employees, villagers, and personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) brought down the number of active fires from 121 to 26 on Tuesday.
Uttarakhand Governor KK Paul said on Tuesday that the support of the Indian Air Force, NDRF, SDRF, Home Guards and police working along with the forest department had greatly helped in controlling the fires that ravaged a large swathe of the forest in the State.
Though rains are projected to hit Uttarakhand in the next couple of days, the State has sought the Centre’s opinion on the efficacy of cloud seeding for tackling the forest fires, said Additional Chief Secretary S Ramaswamy here on Tuesday.
Sadly, the Corbett tiger landscape has not remained untouched by forest fires occurring across the State but there is no report yet of wildlife, including tigers, falling prey to the blaze.
Replying to a query about impact on wildlife and the possibility of wildlife-human conflict Ramaswamy said, "Our first priority is to bring the fire under control with the Chief Wildlife Warden also being directed to first focus on controlling the forest fires and then reviewing the impact on wildlife and environment. Considering the probability of human-wildlife conflict in case of wild animals moving out of the fire affected area, we have deployed wildlife rescue units at Corbett tiger reserve and Rajaji tiger reserve in addition to which the Nainital zoo veterinary doctor has also been told to remain prepared for emergency situations. These units include veterinarians and personnel equipped with vehicle and tranquilizing dart guns to respond to conflict scenarios."
Earlier, a Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar asked the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) as to what they have done in the matter to control the situation.
"What have you (MoEF) done regarding the fireIJ It shocks us. Everybody is taking it so casually," the Bench said.
Responding to the query, the counsel appearing for MoEF said that entire team of officials concerned was working on the issues and choppers of IAF have also been deployed in the ongoing firefighting operations.
To this, the Bench asked Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, "What is your preparedness to prevent such incidentsIJ"
The Bench, however, asked the advocates for these States to take instructions on this issue.
"Issue notices to the States of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to show cause about the forest fires that have occurred in both the States," the Bench said, adding that the concerned secretaries would file their affidavits in this regard on the next date of hearing on May 10.
The green panel also directed them to inform it about the preventive steps taken by them prior to the fire incident and also about the forest management plans.
Nearly 3,466 hectares of forested land has been ravaged by fires in 1,591 incidents in Uttarakhand since the start of the fire season in February this year. Four people lost their lives in these incidents.
Meanwhile, authorities in Himachal remained on alert on Tuesday, a day after panic gripped a residential school here with a blaze in a nearby jungle advancing towards it forcing shifting of 600 students to a safer open area in the premises.
Residents in the area accused the Forest Department of having a "lackadaisical" attitude and not taking steps to prevent forest fires including carrying out controlled fire exercises ahead of the summer season.
They said forest fires were causing "massive" damage to the environment in the region.
"There has been no major incident of fire that has been reported today" in the Kasauli-Solan area, Deputy Commissioner, Solan, Rakesh Kanwar told PTI.
However, smoke could be seen in certain forest areas along the Kalka-Shimla highway.
The fire which caused panic yesterday in Pinegrove School near Dharampur had been brought under control, Kanwar said.
There was no damage caused to the institution and students and staff had been taken to a safer open area in the boarding school premises, Kanwar said.
Authorities in the hill state are keeping a close vigil on forest fires and have taken steps as there has been a concern among the people with such fires occurring in several parts including areas through which railway lines like the 113-year-old Shimla-Kalka toy train corridor, pass.
Sanjay Kumar Gera, a station superintendent, said Railway personnel are on alert but the main task of handling forest fires is that of the disaster management wing of the State Government.
"We are in touch with them," he said.