Nainital fire nears close IAF station; helicopters and army deployed: 10 points.

BY-AYUSH ARORA

The Nainital forest department has requested help from the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Army to fight a forest fire that has been raging for more than 36 hours and has destroyed numerous hectares of forest. The district government has called in helicopters to assist with firefighting efforts.

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on Saturday that he will conduct a meeting on the Nainital forest fire in the state’s Haldwani district.

Here are the top 10 updates on the Nainital forest fires

1. According to Pushkar Singh Dhami, Nainital is experiencing a major fire. “The forest fires pose a difficulty for us. This is a huge fire. We are working on meeting all of our basic necessities. “We asked for assistance from the Army,” he stated.
2. Pushkar Singh Dhami said the government has taken measures to control the fire. “I am going to conduct a meeting in Haldwani today. We have conducted a meeting in Dehradun also regarding this. We will try to control the fire as soon as possible,” he added.
3. The forest fire has put the High Court Colony in Nainital. Dhami has ordered the departments to douse the fire after coordinating among themselves.
4. The fire has spread near the colony, which is situated near the Pines area. It also affected traffic movement.
5. Meanwhile, Nainital Municipal Corporation Executive Officer Rahul Anand said: “We received information of IAF helicopters seeking permission to take water from Nainital to douse the fire. To make arrangements, we closed boating in the lake for the day. Fire is reported in Nainital in many places, including very close to the Air Force Station in the district. The main purpose of bringing in helicopters to douse the fire was to keep the Air Force Station safe”.
6. Anil Joshi, a resident of the area and assistant registrar of the High Court, told PTI: “The fire has engulfed an old and vacant house located near The Pines. It has not caused any damage to the High Court Colony but it has reached dangerously close to the buildings.”
7. The fire has reached dangerously close to the Indian Army’s installation near the Pines area.
8. The Nainital administration has barred people from boating activities in Naini Lake because of the forest fire.
9. Nainital’s forest department has pressed 40 personnel in the fire-fighting operations.
10. Yesterday, within a 24-hour period, 26 incidents of forest were reported in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. Five incidents were reported in Garhwal. A total of 33.34 hectares of forest area was affected during the period.