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Uttarakhand seeks IAF assistance to douse massive forest fire near Valley of Flowers
Divisional forest officer of the Badrinath Forest Division, SK Dubey, said repeated attempts to control the blaze from the ground have failed.
The Uttarakhand disaster management department has sought assistance from the Indian Air Force (IAF) to douse an active forest fire that has been raging for the past five days near the UNESCO World Heritage site, the Valley of Flowers, in Chamoli district, officials said on Tuesday.
The fire broke out in the forests of Painkhanda under the Valley of Flowers range of the Nanda Devi National Park at an altitude of around 11,500 feet. Due to the difficult terrain and the absence of access routes, the affected area cannot be reached on foot, rendering manual firefighting efforts ineffective, officials said.
Divisional forest officer (DFO) of the Badrinath Forest Division, SK Dubey, said repeated attempts to control the blaze from the ground have failed. “The forest where the fire is active is located close to 11,500 feet and is completely out of reach. It is not possible to douse the fire manually as a large number of personnel would be required, and the area is inaccessible,” he said.
Dubey added that the forest, locally known as Painkhanda, falls within the Valley of Flowers range of the Nanda Devi National Park. He said the forest department wrote to the Chamoli district magistrate seeking assistance, following which the matter was taken up with the disaster management department for aerial intervention.
“The disaster management team was scheduled to conduct an aerial survey of the affected area, but it could not be carried out due to adverse weather conditions,” Dubey said.
Confirming the development, Uttarakhand disaster management secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said the department has requested IAF support. “We have sought assistance from the Indian Air Force to douse the forest fire,” he said.
Forest fires are generally reported from February to June and usually peak in May and June. They impact biodiversity, including microorganisms in the soil, wildlife, small insects, birds, and people living in and around forests, affecting the overall ecology of an area. Uttarakhand’s forest cover is 24,303.83 sqkm, accounting for 45.44% of the state’s geographical area. A larger forest area with nearby human habitation increases the chances of forest fires. Given the diversity of forests in the state, Uttarakhand is particularly prone to such incidents.
In Uttarakhand, 0.10% of the total forest cover falls under the extremely fire-prone category, 12.92% under very highly fire-prone, 27.64% under highly fire-prone, 20.01% under moderately fire-prone, and 39.33% under the less fire-prone category.
In 2024, as many as 1,276 forest fire incidents were reported in the state, claiming 13 lives — the highest toll since 2021, when eight people were killed. In June last year, six forest workers died while extinguishing a fire at the Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary under the Civil Soyam Forest Division in Almora district.
According to the biennial India State of Forest Report published by the Forest Survey of India in 2023 and released in December last year, Uttarakhand reported 21,033 forest fires between November 2023 and June 2024 — the highest recorded by any state in the country. This marked nearly a fourfold increase compared to the corresponding period between November 2022 and June 2023.
