Forest fires: SC slams Uttarakhand govt’s lackadaisical approach
The bench also questioned the Uttarakhand government on the deployment of the forest fire staff on poll duty.
The Uttarakhand Government on Wednesday announced to increase the pine needle cost from Rs 3 to Rs 50 per kilogram to prevent forest.
“To prevent forest fires, the government is working on the ‘Pirul Laao-Paise Pao’ (bring pine needle, take away money) mission. Under this mission, pirul will be purchased at the cost of Rs 50 per kilogram at Pirul Collection Centers with the aim to reduce forest fires,” said Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
“The mission will be implemented by the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board. The State government has set up a separate corpus fund of Rs 50 crore for the mission” said Chief Minister Dhami.
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Alarmed by the fast spreading forest fires in the hill area, he cancelled all his political engagements to chair a review meeting of forest fires in the state. Five people have died and four were seriously injured in the forest fire incidents in the state so far.
He said: “Today, after reaching Rudraprayag, I collected the pirul leaves scattered in the forest to send a message to join the mission. Dry leaves of Pirul are the biggest cause of forest fires.”
He added: “I request people of the state to run this campaign on a large scale in collaboration with Yuvak Mangal Dal, Mahila Mangal Dal and self-help groups to save the forests around them.”
It is worth noting that Trivendra Singh Rawat was the first Chief Minister in the state to start a pine needle collection program linking MNREGA after coming to power in 2017.
“Around 25 lakh metric tonnes of pine needles are produced annually in the state. This can generate nearly 200 MW of power if used adequately,” said Rawat.
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