Everything must be put in place before next season to prevent forest fires in Uttarakhand: SC

Supreme Court of India. File Pic

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said authorities must put everything in place before the next season to prevent forest fires in Uttarakhand, most of which are man-made.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan was hearing a matter related to forest fires in Uttarakhand.

The apex court had, on May 17, observed that precious forests should be saved from the hazards of forest fires. It had observed that the litigation concerning forest fires in Uttarakhand was not "adversarial".

"As of now, there is nothing immediate but before the next season, you must put everything in place," the bench said, adding that rains have started in the hill state.

"A very good picture was projected to us (during the earlier hearing) and within a week, we read in the newspapers that four forest guards died in forest fires," the court said.

One of the counsel appearing in the court in the matter referred to the top court's May 17 order that had noted Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's submission that he himself, along with the state's chief secretary, the amicus curiae, the representative of the Central Empowered Committee and senior advocate Rajiv Dutta, who has filed an application on the forest-fire issue, would sit together to work out a solution.

The lawyer said meetings have already taken place and some more are scheduled for August.

The bench, which observed that most of these forest fires are man-made, listed the matter for hearing in September.

When the matter was taken up for hearing on May 17, the solicitor general, appearing on behalf of the Uttarakhand government, informed the apex court about various aspects, including utilisation of funds for preventing and controlling forest fires, filing up vacancies in the forest department and providing necessary equipment for fire fighting.

The bench had noted that the solicitor general had assured it that the state had taken up the issue seriously and the chief secretary, along with other senior officers, would personally look into the matter and endeavour to find out a permanent solution for avoiding forest fires and bringing those under control at the earliest.

"We appreciate the stand taken by the state," the court had said.

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