Forest fires h🌟ave flared up again in various parts of Uttarakhand, with two major fire incidents in the Gauhari range of the Rajaji Tiger Reserve and the trek route to Nilkanth Mahadev temple in Rishikesh.
The bla𓆉ze that broke out in Gauhari range of the reserve on Thursday evening affected around 1.5 hectares of forest cover, Rajaji Reserve Director Saket Badola said on Friday.
The fire in Gauhari range of the reserve has been brought under control but fire fighting continues in an area ꩵspread over one hectare in the forest near Pundrasu along the trek route to the Nilkanth Mꦯahadev temple, Badola said.
The forests in Barahat, Mukhem, Dunda and Dharasu ranges besides Varunavat hills in the border district of Utt🌟a💧rkashi are also ablaze, Uttarkashi District Disaster Management Officer Devendra Patwal said.
Forest guards, Q🐻uick Response Teams, NDRF, SDRF, police and fire brigade personnel are busy dousing the flames in Uttarkashi district, he said.
After nearly a fortnight-long lull which saw a substantial dec🐼line in forest fire incidents, wildfires flared up on Thursday with fire incidents in 11 areas affecting more than 13 hectares of forest land across the state, additional chief conservator of forest Nishant Ve𒁏rma said.
There have🉐 been 1,167 forest fire incidents this season in which nearly 1600 hectares of🌟 land have been affected, he said.
Forest fires in Uttarakhand have so far claimed s🌊ix lives and left five persons injured, Verma s🍸aid.
