Mubashir Aalam Wani
Srinagar, Apr 12: Fifty eight incidents of forest fire were reported in Jammu and Kashmir in the last fortnight.
According to details available, 50 fire incidents were reported in Jammu alone while the rest eight in Kashmir.
Experts believe the main reason can be the ongoing dry weather conditions.
J&K Chief Wildlife Warden Suresh Kumar Gupta said they have not found any massive damage caused by the fire incidents.
He said that forest fire is a natural phenomenon and it can occur anywhere in the world. “Sometimes it can be caused accidentally by a small fire incident, sometimes villagers burn grass so that they can get new grass for cattle and that fire starts spreading and there are many multiple reasons for the bush fire,” he said.
He said that the department is trying to control fire by making fire lines and gaps so that to stop fire from spreading.
Kumar said that countries such as Australia, Canada, US or Russia use helicopters to douse forest fire. “But we don’t see forest fires at that level. Wherever we find any such incident, our team reaches and stop the fire with the help of nearest residents.”
He appealed to people living near forests to cooperate with their department in bringing down fire incidents.
Meanwhile director meteorological centre Srinagar Sonam Lotus told KNO “this year there has been a prolonged dry spell in J&K in March-April. As a result, we are noticing above normal temperatures compared to the last few years. Prolonged dry spell is a favourable condition for forest fire.”
He predicted light to moderate rain on 13-14 April and it can bring down mercury.
