Army, IAF called in to fight U'khand forest fires

DEHRADUN: With forest fires in all their speed and ferocity spreading across multiple jungle areas of Uttarakhand, an occurrence whose magnitude many here are calling “unprecedented”, the Army and the air force have now been kept on stand by to join firefighting operations that already have three companies of National Disaster Response Force, police, NGOs and the general public trying to tackle the inferno.
"922 incidents have occurred so far killing six people including three women and a child, injuring seven and blighting 1890.79 hectares of green cover," Principal Conservator of Forest (Research) BP Gupta said.
Chamoli, Pauri, Rudraprayag, Tehri, Uttarkashi, Pithoragarh, Almora and Nainital are the worst-affected districts, Gupta said.
Senior state government sources told TOI that after governor KK Paul sought the Centre’s intervention on Saturday morning, the defence ministry received instructions to keep the Army and IAF ready.
Sources added that the IAF will begin its operation at 6 am on Sunday from the Ghorakhal Sainik school, with Mi-17 choppers equipped with ‘Bambi buckets’ (collapsible bucket suspended from the chopper’s underbelly) that will fill up water from the Bhimtal lake and sprinkle it over trees billowing smoke.
General officer commander (GOC) of the Uttarakhand sub-area, Major General S Sabharwal, said, “We have been asked to be in standby mode to provide all support to the civil administration in dealing with the fires. All Army units and troops have been directed to gear up in both Kumaon and Garhwal to tackle the fires.”
Army units equipped with water bowsers will remain ready to tackle fires in Nainital, Almora, Pauri, Tehri and Rudraprayag districts. Defence sources said choppers may be used because of their water carrying capacity and manoeuvrability.
“A chopper can carry 3,000 litres and douse flames in forest areas using its Bambi bucket,” a senior official said on condition of anonymity. It will be the first such operation for IAF choppers in Uttarakhand.
An Army official posted in Joshimath also said it would be their first such operation. The Army had prepared a firefighting strategy after studying Uttarakhand’s forest-fire pattern. Sources said scores of forest lines identified by the Army have been abandoned.
“We have not carried out such an operation in Uttarakhand before. So far, we have learnt that the forest department does not have drones and maps, and has not preserved the old forest lines to control fires. The Army will plot the coordinates of the fires with the help of the local administration before calling in IAF choppers from Saharanpur and other stations,” said the officer.