Dehradun: The raging forest fires in Uttarakhand which have claimed many lives so far, have cast a shadow on the tourism industry especially the upcoming Chardham Yatra with stakeholders staring at large scale ticket cancellations in case effective measures are not taken by the government.
According to the data of the Forest Department, 804 fire incidents have been reported in the state so far. With there being no indication of rain in the coming days, the situation is feared to go from bad to worse. On Tuesday, 47 fire incidents were reported while on Wednesday, 40 incidents were recorded. On Thursday, fire broke out at 43 places. Most of these incidents--29 have happened in Garhwal while 17 have happened in Kumaon with the raging flames damaging forest cover of 46 hectares of land. A total of 315 cases have also been registered so far with police arresting 52 persons for setting the forests on fire.
Local residents and businessmen associated with the religious tourism sector in the state are worried that if the fires in the mountains continue like this, people who have booked for the Chardham Yatra may start canceling the bookings.
Sumit Shrikunj, associated with the taxi business in Uttarakhand, said that the government should pay attention to raging forest fires which are worrying the tourism stakeholders. “In Uttarakhand, businessmen are quite worried due to the incessant forest fire. After booking taxis, many people are also worried about whether everything is safe if they are coming to Uttarakhand or not,” he said.
Acharya Naveen, a resident of Srinagar, said that the forests are burning continuously. “In such a situation, when lakhs of people coming to Uttarakhand go through the spiritual roads of Chardham, they stop at many places after seeing beautiful places. They spend time there. But now it is seen that in many places trees have been cut and forest fires are raging. The government should pay attention to this as soon as possible,” he said.
Hotel Association Secretary Ved Shah from Nainital said that tourists are canceling bookings due to the raging forest fires. There are also reports of rescheduling. Light rain in Nainital and surrounding areas three days ago had raised hopes that the incidents of fire would decrease. But after a few hours of rain, incidents of fire were again recorded in Nainital and surrounding areas the next day.
At least two people have died in the forest fire incidents in the state so far. In Someshwar of Almora district, four Nepali resin workers who were extracting resin in the forest of Syunrakot got caught in the forest fire with one of them dying on the spot and another succumbing at the hospital in Almora. Two women who were badly burnt in the forest fires were referred to Haldwani.
Kedar Temple Committee Chairman Ajendra Ajay said that bookings are being made for the upcoming Chardham Yatra continuously. “I do not think that the fire will have any effect on the Char Dham Yatra. The places where the fire has broken out are dense forests and it will not affect your journey in any way,” he said.
According to the Disaster Control Room, devotees or tourists coming to Uttarakhand can call on the following helpline numbers for emergency--- 18001804141, 01352744558 or WhatsApp numbers 9389337488 and 7668304788. People can also contact State Disaster Control Room Dehradun on 9557444486 and Helpline 112.
Meanwhile, the raging forest fires in Uttarakhand have only compounded the drinking water shortage in the hilly areas including Garhwal and Kumaon.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a virtual meeting with the officials from Delhi where he took an update on the drinking water crisis. Along with this, the officials have been instructed that the people of Uttarakhand as well as the devotees coming on the Chardham Yatra should not face any kind of drinking water crisis.
