25 incidents of forest fire were reported in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday, taking the number of fire incidents so far this summer season to 1,038.
He said that property worth around Rs 3 crore has been damaged.
However, no casualties were reported, Assistant Chief Conservator of Forests Pushpinder Rana said.
"We have more than 3,000 local field officers and leaves of employees have been cancelled," he said, adding that 18,000 volunteers of the State Disaster Management Authority are providing assistance and 'Aapda Mitras' (disaster response units) are providing assistance. Volunteers have also come forward to help.The forest department is extinguishing the fire.
He said, “So far 38 FIRs have been registered and 600 complaints have been given to the police to investigate and take action against the culprits, and we have also asked the general public to report if they see anyone burning cedar in the forests. Share photos and videos." ,
Himachal Pradesh Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Rajeev Kuma attributed the incidents of forest fire to the rise in temperature due to the ongoing heat wave conditions in the state.
A large number of fires are also caused by human activities like throwing burning cigarettes in the forest and lighting fires for various purposes, he said, adding that efforts are being made to control such incidents.
Of the 25 incidents recorded on Wednesday, one fire incident was recorded in Dharampur in Solan district in which the fire spread to a building, causing damage estimated to be lakhs.The fire broke out in the forests around 11:30 am from where it spread to a nearby house, which also had a car workshop.
In another incident, two vehicles parked on the roadside were damaged by forest fire at Sri Naina Devi in Bilaspur. A video of the incident also went viral on social media. These vehicles belonged to local priests Vikas Sharma and Vishal Sharma.
There are a total of 2,026 forest beats in Himachal, of which 339 are 'very sensitive', 667 'sensitive' and 1,020 are 'less sensitive' to forest fire.
Repeated fire incidents were witnessed in Shimla, Solan, Bilaspur, Mandi and Kangar districts.According to forest department officials, 13 people have died fighting the fire in the last ten years.
He said that property worth around Rs 3 crore has been damaged.
However, no casualties were reported, Assistant Chief Conservator of Forests Pushpinder Rana said.
"We have more than 3,000 local field officers and leaves of employees have been cancelled," he said, adding that 18,000 volunteers of the State Disaster Management Authority are providing assistance and 'Aapda Mitras' (disaster response units) are providing assistance. Volunteers have also come forward to help.The forest department is extinguishing the fire.
He said, “So far 38 FIRs have been registered and 600 complaints have been given to the police to investigate and take action against the culprits, and we have also asked the general public to report if they see anyone burning cedar in the forests. Share photos and videos." ,
Himachal Pradesh Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Rajeev Kuma attributed the incidents of forest fire to the rise in temperature due to the ongoing heat wave conditions in the state.
A large number of fires are also caused by human activities like throwing burning cigarettes in the forest and lighting fires for various purposes, he said, adding that efforts are being made to control such incidents.
Of the 25 incidents recorded on Wednesday, one fire incident was recorded in Dharampur in Solan district in which the fire spread to a building, causing damage estimated to be lakhs.The fire broke out in the forests around 11:30 am from where it spread to a nearby house, which also had a car workshop.
In another incident, two vehicles parked on the roadside were damaged by forest fire at Sri Naina Devi in Bilaspur. A video of the incident also went viral on social media. These vehicles belonged to local priests Vikas Sharma and Vishal Sharma.
There are a total of 2,026 forest beats in Himachal, of which 339 are 'very sensitive', 667 'sensitive' and 1,020 are 'less sensitive' to forest fire.
Repeated fire incidents were witnessed in Shimla, Solan, Bilaspur, Mandi and Kangar districts.According to forest department officials, 13 people have died fighting the fire in the last ten years.
