According to data available on the forest department’s fire reporting portal, the state has so far recorded 286 forest fire incidents this season, already surpassing last summer’s total of 276 fires, even though the official fire season is still over two weeks away from ending.
The scale of the increase has alarmed authorities. On May 17, Himachal had reported only 66 fire incidents. However, within less than two weeks, another 220 incidents were reported, pushing the total beyond the previous year’s figure. Nearly 30 incidents were reported during the last 24 hours alone.
Forest officials attributed the sudden spike to heatwave-like conditions prevailing across lower and mid-hill regions over the past several days. Dry pine needles carpeting forest floors, low moisture levels and gusty winds created ideal conditions for fires to ignite and spread rapidly across vast stretches of forest land.
Among the state’s 11 forest circles, the Mandi circle emerged as the worst affected in terms of the number of incidents. It recorded 92 forest fires this season, affecting nearly 536.16 hectares of forest area.
However, the maximum destruction in terms of area burnt was reported from the Shimla forest circle, where around 1,573.36 hectares of forest land have been ravaged by fires so far this season, making it the most severely damaged region in the state.
The Dharamsala forest circle witnessed 70 fire incidents, damaging nearly 247 hectares, while the Nahan circle reported 56 incidents affecting around 610 hectares of forest land.
Officials said forest staff have been working round the clock under difficult terrain and extreme weather conditions to contain the fires. The sudden rise in incidents has placed considerable pressure on the department’s manpower and resources.
The summer forest fire season in Himachal Pradesh officially runs from April 1 to June 15 every year, a period considered highly vulnerable due to rising temperatures and the accumulation of dry pine needles in forest areas.
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