Forest Dept Fully Equipped to Deal with Fire Accidents

Whilst Uttarkashi District administration is busy preparing for the advent of Char Dham pilgrimage season 2018, the Forest Department has left no stone unturned in ensuring that probability of forest fires is totally eradicated. DFO Sandip Kumar informed the Press that forest Department is on alert from 15 February to ensure the safety of forests and has recruited additional staff for the same purpose.

Around 1132 fire officials are employed to protect forest lands from fires just in Uttarkashi district, of which 407 are fire watchers. 136 control stations have been set up across Uttarkashi, of which 50 are base stations.

Base stations alert Master Control Room of any instances of fire, such that quick actions can be taken to extinguish them. Uttarkashi district has 3 master control rooms each at Uttarkashi, Barkot and Purola.

DFO has also informed that the exercise of fire drill has been completed as an important step towards securing forests from the risks of fires. Fire drills emulate actual instances of fire by instigating fire by controlled burning of certain patches followed by their subsequent extinguishing.