MI-17 switches to spray water on forest fires in Uttarakhand.

DEHRADUN: With large disastrous fires around 1,900 hectares of forests in Uttarakhand, the government has decided today to press two MI-17 helicopters in service as NDRF, SDRF and Army personnel fought to smother the flames that have claimed eight lives so far .

A total of 1890.79 hectares of green cover has been destroyed this fire season, I had an early start on February 2 due to a dry winter.

Chamoli, Pauri, Rudraprayag, Tehri, Uttarkashi, Almora, Pithoragarh and Nainital are the most affected districts.

While three teams NDRF and a company SDRF are busy dousing the flames in different parts of the state, two helicopters of the IAF have been sent to Nainital and Pauri districts, among the hardest hit, to spray water on the forests on fire, the Raj Bhawan officials here said.

Sufficient funds have been made available to all the affected districts, in addition to personnel and equipment to deal with any necessary situation, they said.

"An MI-17 helicopter has been placed in Bhimtal near right Nainital being loaded with water collected from water bodies in the area and start spraying water over the affected areas from tomorrow," said chief secretary Shatrugna Singh.

Another IAF helicopter sent to Pauri work similarly, an official of the Raj Bhawan said.

With fires still raging forest NDRF three teams have been deployed in Almora, Pauri and Gauchar and equipment SDRF in Nainital to extinguish the flames, said senior curator of  forest B P Gupta.

Rudraprayag division of forests is also taking the help of the Army for fire-fighting operations especially along the road, he said.

The low due to forest fires, which have spread sparsely populated remote mountainous areas have increased to six, with another life claimed in Nainital district Friday night.

The deceased include three women and a child.

Since the beginning of the season of forest fires in the state in February, 922 incidents have occurred so far in which seven were wounded and 1890.79 hectares of green cover is affected, Gupta told PTI.

Worried by wildfires still raging across the state, Governor K K Paul reviewed the ongoing rescue efforts via video conference with officials in the field and asked them to accelerate their efforts.

NDRF companies assisted by teams of experts and local are carrying out fire fighting and rescue operations in the affected areas of the Garhwal and Kumaon regions.

Sanjay Gunjyal IG is coordinating with the NDRF, district judges in question and Chief Conservator of Forest to oversee rescue operations.

It is encouraging locals to report an incident of fire before the district judge in question as soon as view, so that it can be controlled in time.

The governor has doubled the number of troops deployed to control fires from 3000 to 6000 and asked all agencies, including the SDRF, the district administration and the rural population to contribute their bit in the exercise saying the forestry department alone can not perform the onerous task, Gupta said.

Forest fires are natural during the summer, but this time have occurred in larger as the fire season which normally starts on February 15 and ends on June 15 scale, began on February 2.

Former Prime Minister Harish Rawat has asked the governor to declare a state hit Uttarakhand as fire disaster and involve as many people as possible in the firefighting efforts.

Congress president Kishore Upadhyay also wrote asking party workers to work unitedly to pull the state of the crisis.

The PCF said the extent of forest fires in Uttarakhand this time has been greater due to little or no rain during the winter in most places.

Alerts pre-fire announcement possible points of fire during the next seven days in forest areas is made available on the website www.forest.uk.govt the forest department. an official release said here.

The governor held a meeting via videoconference in the secretariat in connection with forest fires and preparations Dham Yatra Char today.

He said the draft modalities must meet all the necessary resources. The administration would provide the funds.

A system must be made which immediately obtains information on forest fires and action taken immediately.

An incident response system should be activated. Control rooms in districts must work all day. The DM should ensure coordination between all departments.

Mass awareness campaigns will be launched and gram panchayat, mangal dals, Yuval Mahila Mangal Dals and local people should be involved to ensure control of fires.