The Supreme Court has raised the Uttarakhand government’s decision about deploying forest fire staff on election duty while the state fires are still raging. The top court asked the government why the forest fire personnel were given the election duties instead of being in control of the forest fire. The state officials replied that the election responsibility had finished and that the chief secretary had told them not to put any officials for the duty.
Nevertheless, the bench was not satisfied with the explanation, saying,
“It’s a sorry state of affairs. You are only making excuses. ”
Advocate Parmeshwar pointed out the seriousness of the situation, saying,
“The fire has destroyed about 40% of the forest. “
The Uttarakhand government’s lawyer stated that no new fires were seen and that the central government was not funding the fight to control the forest fires. They suggested the creation of a six-member committee consisting of representatives from the state and federal levels to improve the fire control measures.
The council considered the long-term necessity of funding and recruitment to solve the ongoing crisis. Since November, the forest fires in Uttarakhand have destroyed over 1,437 hectares of green cover. Although the recent rainfall gave way to some breathing space, no new fire cases have been reported in the last few days.
