Lifestyle

Uttarakhand Wildfire Claims Fifth Life in Three Days; Rain Expected This Week

Another life lost to raging flames in the Uttarakhand woods brought the total for the previous three days to five. On Saturday, a 28-year-old lady passed away from her burn injuries. Three days prior, the victim, Pooja, a laborer from Nepal, had attempted to put out a fire at a pine resin business in the Almora area but had suffered serious burn injuries. Last week, while fighting the same fire, her husband and two other people perished. According to reports, a 65-year-old lady who was brought to AIIMS Rishikesh on Sunday passed away from burn injuries she sustained while attempting to put out a forest fire that had reached her property in a hamlet in the Pauri tehsil. An official stated on Friday that three laborers perished from burn injuries they received while putting out a forest fire that had spread near their pine resin factory in Almora.

As the fire consumed the entrance to the sanctuary on Saturday, pilgrims to the Dunagiri temple in the Almora area were forced to evacuate. The swift expansion of the blaze has been attributed by forest experts to strong gusts. A report claims that because of poor visibility, aircraft arrivals at Pithoragarh’s Naini-Saini airport have ceased. Pushkar Singh Dhami, the chief minister of Uttarakhand, called a review meeting on Saturday to discuss the forest fires and instructed the authorities to devise a plan for quickly putting out the fire. Research states that since November 1, 2023, there have been 910 forest fire occurrences in the state, destroying around 1145 hectares of forest.

RAIN LIKELY FROM MAY 7

Bikram Singh, director of the Meteorological Center in Dehradun, suggested that rain may fall in the state between May 7 and May 8, with heavier precipitation starting on May 11. This may assist in putting out the forest fires, he said.

THREE ARRESTED FOR STARTING A FOREST FIRE

According to a report, three guys from Bihar were taken into custody by Chamoli district police for reportedly lighting a fire in the Gairsain region and posting the video to receive “more views on social media.” On Saturday night, police detained the perpetrators after taking suo moto notice of the fire that was making the rounds on social media.

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The three accused were located and taken into custody using the Pandukhal village under the Gairsain police station’s surveillance footage. Bihar natives Brajesh Kunar, Sukhlal, and Salman were employed there as laborers, according to a citation from Superintendent of Police (Chamoli) Sarvesh Panwar.He said, “The trio stated during questioning that they wanted to gain more likes and followers in order to boost their social media popularity with the dramatic video.”