G N G GROUP

Almora: Uttarakhand lost 3,416.2 hectares of forest cover during this year's wildfire season, which is believed to start on February 15 and continue till June 15 in most places, revealed the latest forest department data. During this period, the Himalayan state lost 6,602 trees. In comparison, the hill state had lost 500 hectares more last year.
According to forest authorities, 90% of the wildfire incidents this year were triggered due to human activities. They added that while the first one-and-a-half-month of the wildfire season was rather calm, the remaining period witnessed widespread damage to forest cover due to blazes. The highest number of wildfire incidents was recorded in April when the state lost 2,702 hectares of green cover. In May, however, forest fire incidents recorded a dip as several parts of the state witnessed rain spells.
Nishant Verma, the chief conservator of forests (wildfire), told, "The forest fire incidents are under control but we will take all precautionary measures till the onset of monsoon.