3. Numerous cases of wildfire has been reported in the forests of_______in 2016
4. The Bhopal Gas Tragedy, one of the worst chemical disasters in India, occurred on________
Answers
Answer:
In 2016, widespread forest fires occurred across the Indian state of Uttarakhand. A heatwave in Uttarakhand exacerbated the problem.
2016 Uttarakhand forest fires
Forest fire in Almora District 2016.jpg
Forest fire in Almora district of Uttarakhand state
Location
Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh
Statistics
Date(s)
April – May 2016
Burned area
4,048 hectares (10,000 acres)[1]
Deaths
7 (as of 4 May 2016)[2]
The state of Uttarakhand within India
Whilst there was an outrage in parliament over the presidential rule which was imposed on Uttarakhand[citation needed], a huge inferno engulfing various parts of the same state went unnoticed for several weeks.
These fires wen largely unchecked, mainly occurring in pine forests on the slopes of the sub-Himalayan region. The fire also spread to oak and board leaf forests which resulted in heavy clouds of smoke that changed the usually blue skies to grey. This smoke affected tourism within the state. Fearing bad publicity, the locals did not report the fires.[citation needed]
The conservationist Ela Smetacek started a prominent awareness campaign to highlight the issue by using images that showed the destruction of flora and fauna in the region, forcing the Indian government bodies and parliament to address the issue. Ela Smetacek's Facebook post post was shared over 58,000 times by Facebook users. It showed entire hillsides ablaze with walls of flames engulfing even the tallest trees.
The campaign gathered widespread support from social media users and Indian media. This led to a series of claims and counter-claims between the environment minister, the conservationist, and other activists ensued, as Smetacek blamed the timber and builder mafia for the purposely-lit fires, stating that 1,300 fires could be seen from NASA satellite pictures and that an arson attack across the state was evident.[citation needed] The post demanding the fires be recognized as a national emergency, and the need of immediate deployment of NDRF teams, led to the government taking action, deploying the National Disaster Response Force and making use of Indian Air Force Mi-17 helicopters fitted with "Bambi buckets" to douse the fires with water.
Subsequently, the World Bank granted 500 crores rupees (US$75M) to the Uttarakhand forest department to research the cause of the forest fires, increaed[3] by a further ₹600 crore (US$90M) for Uttarakhand’s forest department.[4]
The Indian central government later announced a series of funds amounting to over ₹50,000 crore (US$7.5B) for afforestation across the state of Uttarakhand and the country.[5]
[6] The forest department estimated that 3,500 hectares (8,600 acres) of forest was burnt.[2] Nearly 1,600 incidents of fires were detected which were brought under control by 2 May. The rains on 3 May helped to reduce the impact of the fires.[7][8][