Uttarakhand forest fire: Situation being monitored, says official

As forest fire continues to raze the forest areas in Kumaon, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Jayaram said he is personally inspecting the situation to bring the situation under control.

"I have personally come for inspection. Operations to contain the fire are underway. We are bringing the situation under control. The weather is dry, which is making the situation look worse," he told reporters here.

Furthermore, Chief Forest conservator in Dehradun, Monish Malik, said that no casualties have been reported so far, and added that most incidents occurred in the Garhwal region.

"In the last two days, due to soaring temperature and dry weather, even a small fire incident becomes difficult to contain. Garhwal is the most affected by forest fires. I will not call these as just a natural calamity, as sometimes, these could be caused by minor human errors as well," he claimed.

Over 50 small and big incidents of fire were reported from forests across Uttarakhand in the past three days, mainly in Garhwal and Kumaon.

According to officials, the soaring temperature and lack of rainfall in the region are responsible for the frequent occurrence of forest fires.