A massive fire broke out in Tanda forest in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani today due to which, the key highway from Delhi has been closed. The tourists travelling to and from Delhi, as well as the locals, have been asked to travel through alternate routes via Lalkuan to reach Haldwani and Nainital. 

The Delhi highway to Haldwani has been closed by the police and administration due to security reasons. 

The fire broke out in Tanda and Bhakra range at around 2 pm today and is getting bigger. The fire department along with the forest department officials are engaged in extinguishing the fire. However, the smoke and fog has affected the visibility in the area, making it difficult to put the fire off. 

The forest department officials are currently inside the forest trying to extinguish the fire, however, it will expectedly take more time to put the fire off completely. 

In several videos from the spot, the cops and fire department officials can be seen putting the fire off with hose and even twigs.

This incident comes days after another fire broke out in the Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttarakhand’s Almora district. While trying to extinguish the fire, four forest workers were killed and four were injured on June 14, according to news agency PTI.  

Due to the ongoing heatwave, the incidents of forest fires in Uttarakhand have been raging. Several incidents of forest fires in Uttarakhand have been reported in the near past.

An Indian Air Force helicopter was pressed into service to extinguish the raging forest fires in villages of Srikot in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand on Monday.

An M-17 helicopter was deployed to assist in the firefighting operations.

State’s Chief Secretary, Radha Raturi, announced today a series of measures aimed at controlling the spread of the flames and mitigating further damage.

Ms Raturi said that the Air Force has been called in to aid firefighting efforts, and plans are underway to implement a pilot cloud seeding project to induce rainfall in the affected regions.

“The Chief Minister held a meeting the day before. For compliance with those directions, the Forest Department has been informed. The Forest Department has given responsibility for each district to its senior officials. Pauri Garhwal is facing the worst. For that, DM Pauri has also spoken with the Air Force. IAF choppers are now carrying water from Srinagar and sprinkling it on the affected area,” Ms Raturi said told news agency ANI.

To prevent further incidents, the state government has banned the burning of agricultural residues and waste in urban areas. This ban comes in response to widespread stubble burning after wheat harvesting, which has been linked to the increased risk of forest fires.

While appealing to Uttarakhand residents for their cooperation, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said, “Forest wealth is our heritage which we have to protect at all costs.”

Since November last year, there have been 910 incidents of forest fire in the state, due to which about 1145 hectares of forest have been affected.

Three labourers at a pine resin factory in Almora died of burn injuries they sustained while dousing a forest fire that had reached close to their factory, an official said on Friday.

Another labourer injured in the incident is still under treatment, the daily bulletin issued by the forest department said giving data of the damages caused by forest fires in the state over the past 24 hours.

All the labourers were from Nepal and not part of the designated fire fighting teams, a forest official in Almora said.

They received burn injuries while struggling to quell the blaze in Gananath range of Almora forest division near their factory on Thursday and were under treatment at the base hospital, Almora, the official said.

A report from Nainital said smog has engulfed the tourist town as a result of the raging forest fires.

Air pollution is also on the rise which may cause health problems among residents.

It may aggravate problems of patients already suffering from asthma and bronchitis, doctors said.

Dr MS Dugtal, senior physician at a government hospital, said air pollution can increase asthma and lung problems in children as well as the elderly.

The smog which was visible everywhere from Nainital to Haldwani can be risky, he said and advised people suffering from respiratory problems, like chronic bronchitis and asthma, to take their medicines regularly and avoid going out unless necessary.

Dr Dugtal also advised people to use air purifiers in their homes and face masks while going out.

According to the data, 64 new incidents of forest fire were reported from different parts of the state over the last 24 hours in which 74.67 hectares of forest land were destroyed.

Since November 1 last year, there have been 868 fire incidents in Uttarakhand in which more than 1,000 hectares of forest land have been destroyed.

Of the total fire incidents, Kumaon has reported 456 and Garhwal 344, the forest fire bulletin said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)