The forests of Uttarakhand are burning at a fast rate as per the latest NASA satellite images. The Uttarakhand Space Application Centre (USAC) analysed satellite images by NASA and reported that 1187 forest fire incidents have come to light from March 15 to April 5. Out of these, 679 incidents took place between April 1 and April 5 as reported by Jagran.
According to USAC Director Dr. MPS Bisht, the images of NASA satellite MODIS C6 were analysed to ascertain the status of the fire.
At present, there is no district in Uttarakhand where forests are not affected by the fire. However, the worst affected forests are from Nainital, Pauri, and Tehri districts.
An important thing that has been revealed by the analysis of satellite images is that the forest department did not come into the alert mode as expected when the forest fire started around March 15. A total of 508 forest fire incidents were detected from 15th March to 31st March. If better measures had been taken to control the fire, the figure would not have reached 1187.
According to Usac Director Dr. MPS Bisht, the information obtained from the analysis of satellite images has been sent to the Department of Disaster Management. So that better control measures can be taken in the areas where fire incidents are coming to light. At the same time, USAC has also started analysing the forest area affected by the fire.
District-wise fire incidents
- Nainital: 165
- Pauri: 152
- Tehri: 92
- Almora: 71
- Chamoli: 50
- Champawat: 46
- Pithoragarh: 28
- Dehradun: 19
- Rudraprayag 16
- Uttarkashi: 14
- Bageshwar: 11
- Haridwar: 10
- Udham Singh Nagar: 05
