Two people, including a forest fire watcher, were killed in separate fire incidents in Uttarakhand’s Tehri Garhwal and Chamoli districts, officials said on Thursday.
A 50-year-old woman, Anju Devi, a resident of Pipola Saij village, was charred to death after a fire broke out near her agricultural field, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Diganth Nayak of the Narendranagar Forest Division said.
“She had gone to her agricultural land to cut grass when a sudden fire broke out in the field for reasons yet to be known. It is suspected that she inhaled toxic smoke, lost consciousness and collapsed in the flames,” DFO Nayak said.
Her family members searched for her after she did not return home. They recovered her body around 9 pm on Wednesday. Joint teams of the revenue and forest departments later inspected the site.
DFO Nayak said the investigation revealed that the incident occurred on civil revenue land and not in a designated forest area. “As the tragedy took place on civil revenue land, the revenue department has initiated the legal process for compensation and other statutory formalities for the family,” he added.
Following the incident, the forest department intensified monitoring and safety measures in vulnerable areas. Forest Range Officer (FRO) Sanjay Singh Belwal of the Kirtinagar range said all forest personnel and fire watchers have been placed on high alert to tackle wildfire emergencies.
Meanwhile, Rajendra Singh Negi, a resident of Pakhi Jalgwad village, died while working as a departmental fire watcher in the Bedubgarh Birhi area near the Badrinath Highway in Chamoli district.
The body of the 42-year-old fire watcher was recovered from a 70-metre-deep gorge near Bedubagad on the Badrinath Highway on Thursday morning.
DFO Sarvesh Dubey of the Badrinath Forest Division said a forest fire broke out around 2 pm on Wednesday in a rocky pine forest area, following which a 15-member team was deployed to douse the flames.
“By 7 pm, the wildfire was largely under control and the fire watchers began returning towards the highway. It was then discovered that Rajendra Singh was missing,” DFO Dubey said.
Forest personnel informed senior officials, following which a joint search operation involving police, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and forest teams was launched. Around 10.30 pm, Rajendra Singh’s mobile phone was recovered from the forest area, but he remained untraceable through the night.
“He likely slipped from the rocky cliff while extinguishing the fire and fell into the gorge,” said DFO Sarvesh Dubey.
His family members and local leaders demanded ₹50 lakh compensation and a government job for one member of the bereaved family. DFO Dubey said the forest department had appealed to employees to donate one day’s salary as immediate assistance to the family and efforts would be made to provide the deceased’s wife with a contractual job.
The body was later handed over to the family after completion of departmental formalities, Dubey said.
