Rajnath Singh reviews forest fire situation in Uttarakhand

NEW DELHI: Home Minister Rajnath Singh today reviewed the situation in Uttarakhand where raging forest fires have destroyed 2269 hectares of jungles in several districts and claimed at least seven lives.

The Home Minister held discussions with chief secretary and other officials of the state government on the situation arising due to the forest fire and offered all assistance from the Centre.

Singh directed central officials to provide all possible assistance to the state government to control the forest fires.

The Home Minister yesterday spoke to Governor K K Paul, who briefed him about the situation in the hill state.

The Home Ministry has already sent several teams of National Disaster Response Force to help the state government to douse the fire.

A Mi 17 chopper of the IAF today began water sprinkling operations in Nainital to control the forest fires.

Seven persons have been killed due to the forest fires, which have spread to sparsely populated remote hill areas. Pauri, Nainital, Rudraprayag and Tehri are among the worst-hit districts.

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has said that the Centre was taking the forest fires very seriously and making all efforts to control it.

He said the government will study the reasons behind such major fires and prepare an action plan accordingly.