E-Paper
Dry spell triggers forest fires in Kashmir
The continuous dry spell has given rise to forest fires across Kashmir, though a majority of the fires were brought under control within hours by the staff members and local villagers.
The continuous dry spell has given rise to forest fires across Kashmir, though a majority of the fires were brought under control within hours by the staff members and local villagers.
Alone in the Bandipore district, five to six forest fires were reported due to the dry spell. In north Kashmir’s Baramulla and Kupwara, similar forest fires were reported by the officials in Uri and Tanghdar areas.
Officials said since March was the driest month in decades, so many fires took place in J&K due to dry foliage. “We had more fires in south and central Kashmir. There must be more than 100 such fires and almost 99 percent are ground fires that doesn’t harm the trees,” conservator, north, Irfan Rasool said. He said most of the fire incidents took place on higher reaches where it was difficult for staff and local villagers to reach. “At times some fires are helpful for forest rejuvenation,” he said.
Kashmir’s prominent and reliable weather spotter, Kashmir_Weather, also wrote a series of tweets saying that most of the fires took place in the forests of Jammu.
“As per NASA images, there were eight forest fires in Kashmir and nearly 50 in the Jammu region during the last 24 hours (most of them currently active). During the last 15 days, J&K witnessed more than 100 forest fires. The main reason can be the ongoing dry spell. The forest fires may come down as some rain activity is expected in the coming days.”
Sonam Lotus, director, meteorological centre, J&K, said that the cities of Jammu and Srinagar were largely dry this year.
“Jammu city received only 2.1mm rains against normal of 68mm and Srinagar city received 21.3mm of rainfall as against normal of 117.6mm,” Lotus said.
However, he said, the phenomenon was nothing new. “This is not the first time that below normal rainfall was recorded in J&K,” he said.
The lack of a strong weather system and deficit rainfall also led to an increase in normal temperatures this year.
“As a result of the absence of any strong western disturbance and stable atmosphere, the weather remained fair and mainly clear on most occasions which led to early onset of spring and above normal temperatures compared to last few years,” Lotus said.
