The Uttarakhand Government told the S🌳upreme Court of India on Wednesday that only 0.1 p🅺ercent of wildlife cover was lost during the forest fires, shutting down the claim that 40 percent of the state was on fire.
⛎The matter regarding the forest fires was heard by the bench comprising of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta. During the hearing, the state government told the top court that since November 2023, around 398 forest fire🃏s had been reported in Uttarakhand.
However, almost all of these fires were man-made. The c🗹ounsel appearing for the state said that around 350 criminal🎐 cases have been lodged in connection with forest fires and 62 people have been named responsible.
In response to the forest fires, the Supreme Court stated that the state cannot be depenꦿdent on "cloud seeding or the rain god" to put out forest f𒊎ires.
While setting the date for the next hearing on May 15, the Supreme Court directed the state to take better🗹 preventive measures.
The court has further instr꧋ucted the Uttarakhand Government and petitioners to submit their reports to the Central Empowered Committee for a🀅ssessment and opinion.
5 Killed In Uttarakhand Forest Fires
As the fires continue to rage, the state government has resorted to aerial firefigh��ting. The National Disaster Response For𓆏ce has also been deployed in the districts of Pauri and Almora, which were the worst affected.
The state government also sought help from the Indian Air Force to extinguish the fires bꦅy using lake from the Bhimtal Lake from April 27 onwards.
Since the fires started in 🍰end-April, the state has also reported the death of five people. The latest death was of 65-year-old woman Sav▨itri Devi.
