U'khand forest dept ill-equipped to handle fires

The spate of forest fires across the state last year claimed 13 lives, with most of the victims being the under-equipped forest personnel who were involved in firefighting operations.

- Amit Bathla

DEHRADUN: With less than a week left for the forest fire season to begin on February 15, the first line of defence - forest personnel - still lack the necessary protective gear and equipment to effectively tackle wildfires while ensuring their own safety, revealed a response under Right to Information (RTI) filed by HT.

The forest personnel don't have adequate proximity suits, shoes, gloves, helmets, leaf blowers, drones, and backpacks, the RTI said, even though the department claimed that the procurement process is in the last stage.

The entire field staff of over 5,000, and approximately 4,500 fire watchers (who are employed on a temporary basis during the fire season) engage in firefighting, but the department has just 728 fire-resistant jackets, 915 face masks, 712 first-aid boxes, 857 shoes, 376 goggles, 340 leaf blowers, 48 gloves, leaving them with just archaic tools such as fire rake, sickle and jhapa (a bundle of green twigs and leaves meant to beat the fire away).

This was the status of equipment available with the forest department as of March 2024, as the department didn't reveal in the RTI response the last time it procured equipment. The data isn't available, the response said.