Reason behind Massive Forest Fire in Uttarakhand and precautions taken by Government
                     Reason behind Massive Forest Fire 
in Uttarakhand and precautions 
taken by Government
MASSIVE FIRES
From the last several years, thousands of forests in 
Uttarakhand have gone up in smoke; homes and livestock 
have been lost, and a spike in man-animal conflict has been 
reported from affected areas.
Source: Google Images
TERRIBLE FOREST 
FIRES CONTINUE
Last year, 94 forest fires spread over 161 hectares were 
reported. The nightmarish state of affairs can be gauged 
from the fact that a chopper carrying government 
officials couldn’t land as the pilot reported zero visibility due 
to smoke.
Source: Google Images
FOREST DEPARTMENT 
ESTIMATE
According to the forest department of Uttarakhand, 3399 
hectares forest cover has been gutted in 1451 forest fire 
incidents in the state this year. The forests of Garhwal and 
Shivalik have been affected the most.
Source: Google Images
IN 2020
A total of 2321 hectares of forest land of Garhwal and 
Shivalik region have been affected in 976 fire incidents this 
year and this has resulted in economic loss of around Rs 
43.94 lakh. The Kumaon region recorded that 846.13 hectares 
of forest land had been gutted
Source: Google Images
WILDLIFE 
SANCTUARIES BURNT
Wildlife sanctuaries have been burnt too. 125.13 hectares of 
reserved forest has been burnt leading to a loss worth crores 
of rupees. A majority of fire was reported from Pauri Garhwal 
(579), Almora (186), Uttarkashi (163).
Source: Google Images
FAKE IMAGES ON 
SOCIAL MEDIA
A number of social media users have been posting pictures 
of previous forest fire in Uttarakhand and calling it latest 
while some have even posted images from the Australian 
bushfire. It is important to not play into the hands of such 
misinformation. 
Source: Google Images
AUTHORITIES
The forest department officials said that the situation was 
under control and that the forest fires were not raging 
uncontrollably as was being said on social media.
Source: Google Images
CM OF 
UTTARAKHAND
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat when 
inquired about the incidents said that the government is 
trying to control the fire incidents and to some extent they 
have been successful too.
Source: Google Images
ESSENTIAL SERVICES
Considering the incidents of forest fires and other issues, 
the government has declared services of forest staff 
including patrolling, fire fighting, wildlife, and zoo upkeep as 
‘essential’ under the Disaster Management Act
Source: Google Images