Chief Minister Sukhu directs immediate action to prevent and control Forest fires

Presiding over a meeting of the Forest Department here today, Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu expressed serious concern over the forest fire incidents and directed the department to make concerted efforts to address the issue. He instructed them to initiate long-term measures along with immediate initiatives to curb the problem. He stressed the people’s participation in these efforts and said that the number of forest fire incidents is gradually decreasing.

The Chief Minister said that 1318 fire incidents have been recorded so far this year, affecting 12718 hectares of land including 2789 hectares of plantation area causing a preliminary financial loss of Rs. 4.61 crore. He said that to mitigate these losses, the State Government is contemplating forming a dedicated battalion of NDRF specially equipped and trained for firefighting to reduce the losses to the forest area. In addition to this, he said that 374 forest beats are highly sensitive to forest fires and called for strengthening the fire-tackling services in these areas.

Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu emphasized diversifying the conifer plant regions with specific plant species of the area to help retain moisture and reduce the number of fire incidents.  He also directed the forest department to conduct a study from the government agency to look into the causes of fire incidents and recommend necessary actions.

Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena, Additional Chief Secretary Onkar Chand Sharma, Principal Secretary Forests Dr. Amandeep Garg, Secretary to the Chief Minister Rakesh Kanwar, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Rajiv Kumar and senior officers of the department attended the meeting.