Emphasizing on taking preventive measures to deal with the problem of forest fires in Uttarakhand, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said that cloud seeding and relying on God for rain is not the solution. The court said that the authorities will have to take preventive measures to deal with the problem. However, the Uttarakhand government informed the court about the steps being taken to control the forest fire and said that there is no emergency now. It was also told that since November till now, there have been 398 incidents of fire and all are man-made. The court will hear the case again on May 15. A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta made these comments on Wednesday while hearing a petition raising the issue of forest fires in Uttarakhand. The issue of the ongoing fire problem in the forests of Uttarakhand was raised by filing a fresh application in the old pending case regarding protection of environment, wildlife protection and ecological balance from forest fire.
The petitioner’s lawyer, while raising questions on the measures being taken by the state, cited the news coming in the media and videos and photos, described the situation as serious and said that measures should be taken to prevent fire. The hearing bench also verified the reports and videos coming in the media about the forests of Uttarakhand. Bench judge Mehta said that fire was visible in it. Then the lawyer appearing on behalf of Uttarakhand government informed the court about the measures being taken through the status report.
The state government told the court that helicopters are also being used to extinguish the fire. He said that since November till now, there have been 398 incidents of fire in which five people have died, although the state government could not tell the court how many animals died in total. The lawyer asked to find out and inform. The state government told the court that all fire incidents are man-made. 350 FIRs have been registered in which 62 people have been named. He said that people are saying that 40 percent of the forests of Uttarakhand are in the grip of fire while only 0.1 percent of the wild life area is in the grip of fire. On the measures being taken by the state government and providing rain, the bench said that the petitioner is right in saying that cloud seeding and relying on God for rain is not the solution.
To deal with this problem, authorities will have to take preventive measures. The court asked the petitioner to give a copy of his petition and suggestions to the state government and directed to put the matter up for hearing next Wednesday.
