Five people have lost their lives in the Uttarakhand forest fires, while 1,300 hectares have been affected, said head of forest force (HoFF) Dhananjay Mohan. He also confirmed that the fire was under control.

“The situation of forest fire is currently under control. Forest department personnel are reaching on time at the accident spot. So far 388 cases have been registered in forest fires and 60 cases have been named. 5 people have lost their lives out of them 4 were from Nepal and working in Almora. The other deceased is an aged woman who lost her life in Pauri,” Dhananjay Mohan told news agency ANI.

He said forest fires are still taking place in the Garhwal division and in Almora also some parts are affected.

“Any kind of negligence regarding forest fire will not be tolerated, in view of this, major action has been taken against 17 personnel, and 10 people have been suspended. So far 1300 hectares of forest area has been affected by forest fire,” said Dhananjay Mohan.

On Wednesday, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami reviewed the measures being taken to prevent forest fires and preparations regarding the upcoming monsoon season. Dhami has instructed that all secretaries should go to respective districts and do a field inspection of the areas affected by forest fires and take effective steps to stop it.

On Dhami’s instructions, 10 Forest Department personnel who were allegedly negligent in preventing forest fire have been suspended. Instructions have been issued to take disciplinary action against some other personnel as well.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed concern over the Uttarakhand forest fires and said that cloud seeding, depending on rain, were not the answer to stop the fire. A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta said that the government must take preventive measures.

Uttarakhand government informed the Supreme Court that there had been 398 forest fires since November 2023 and all of them were man-made.