The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on the Uttarakhand government and said it was “at pains to say that the state’s approach in controlling forest fires was lackadaisical,” adding that though action plans were prepared and finalised, no steps have been taken for their implementation.
A bench headed by Justice B R Gavai, which was hearing a plea raising the issue of raging forest fires in the state, also directed the Chief Secretary to be present personally before it on May 17, Indian Express reported.
The top court directed that no state shall deploy forest officials or forest department vehicles for poll duty.
Also Read: Uttarakhand forest fires claim 5 lives, rage through Almora region
The court has also sought an explanation on why central funds were not utilised for dousing fires as out of over Rs 9 crore disbursed by the Centre last year, only Rs 3.14 crore was spent on preventing forest fires.
The chief secretary has also been asked to explain large vacancies in the forest department, lack of fire fighting equipment, and deployment of forest officials despite specific exemption granted by the Election Commission.
The fire, in the upper reaches of a hill in the Dhumakot area of Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district, is among the latest of 998 incidents of forest fires recorded by the state’s forest department since November 2023 – 68 of those between May 6 and 7 alone. Last season, the state recorded 773 such fires.
Also Read: Uttarakhand: Army, IAF pressed into service to douse massive forest fire in Nainital region
The fires have so far affected 1,196 hectares of forest land, led to reports of wild animals encroaching into residential areas, and claimed four lives. The lush hillsides of the Pauri region have been scarred with charred, blackened patches.
(With inputs from agencies)