Write an essay on the topic: Uttarakhand forest fires- Natural or Motivated? Write your views about this as an environmentalist.
Answers
Forest fires have been common in numerous places in 2016, in Uttarakhand. They burnt the pine trees in the slopes of the sub Himalayan region. The forest department estimated that 3,500 hectares of forest had been burnt. Nearly 1600 incidences of fire were brought under control by 2nd May. It rained on 3rd May which helped to reduce the impact of the fires.
The government had to deploy the National Disaster Response Force and use the Indian Air Force Mi - 17 helicopters fitted with Bambi buckets to douse the fire.
Many reports in the local media said that the fires could have been caused due to the activities of the local people and timber mafia.
However, according to the environmental journalist Bahar Dutt the high density of pine trees is a natural cause of fires.
So we have to consider the historical and ecological natural cause for the fire and work for saving the environment.