Priyanka Gandhi urges Centre, Uttarakhand govt to prevent forest fire incidents

New Delhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday urged the Centre and the Uttarakhand government to take steps to prevent forest fire incidents and make effective efforts with everyone's cooperation to save the Himalayas.

Her remarks came after four forest workers were killed and four others injured while extinguishing a fire at the Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary under the Civil Soyam Forest Division in Almora district of Uttarakhand.

In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, "The news of the death of four employees who went to extinguish the forest fire in Almora, Uttarakhand and many others getting injured is extremely saddening. I pray to God for everyone. I request the state government to provide compensation and assistance at every possible level to the affected families." The forests of Uttarakhand have been burning continuously for the past several months and hundreds of hectares of forest have been destroyed, she noted.

There are reports of forest fires in Himachal Pradesh as well, she added.

According to a study, the incidence of forest fires in the Himalayan region has increased manifold, Gandhi said.

"Climate change has had the greatest impact on our Himalayas and mountain environment. I appeal to the central and state governments to take measures to prevent incidents of fire and to make effective efforts on a large scale with everyone's cooperation to save the Himalayas," she said.

Last month, a resin factory in Almora district was engulfed in forest fire and three workers trying to extinguish the fire were killed.

Due to hot and dry weather, forest fires have started raging again in Uttarakhand. According to the Uttarakhand forest fire bulletin, seven incidents were reported in the last 24 hours in which 4.50 hectares of forest were affected.