Forest officials of Uttarakhand are headed to England and Poland for a “study tour” while 900 hectares of forests are under fire and is still spreading throughout the hill districts of the state.
711 fire incidents have been reported to the officials and a total of 984 hectares have been destroyed due to the fire.
The forests that were destroyed had trees which include oak, pine, and many more.
According to the Forest Department, nearly Rs.16 lakhs worth of natural habitat has been damaged due to the fire.
Yesterday, the fire reached the Corbett Tiger Reserve, which is the home of the Bengal Tigers.
Despite having an emergency, chief forest conservator Vivek Pande, forest conservator Parag Madhukar Dhakate and divisional forest officer Nitish Mani Tripathi, three Indian Forest Service Officials left for a study tour in Poland and United Kingdom for 2 weeks.
They are participating in a joint program with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and Zoological Society of London to study a tiger footprint.
The tour was cleared by Jairaj, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, he also advised the local residents to take care of the forests.
In a recorded audio, you can hear Jairaj saying, “Forests belong to you (locals). Take good care of forests and help us in controlling fire.”
The forest department announced an Rs. 5000 reward for the person who can give information about the person who is “responsible for torching forests”
The fire has now spread out to the district of Chamoli in the Garhwal Region.