Death in the Woods

Gull Mohammad Shah died battling a forest fire with no protective gear. Experts say outdated practices and lack of resources leave frontline forest workers exposed.

- Dr. Raja Muzaffar Bhat

On the morning of December 7, 2025, the streets of Changoo lay still. Most government employees stayed home for Sunday, while Gull Mohammad Shah, 54, a forest guard with the Jammu & Kashmir Forest Department, set out into the predawn cold.

The temperature hovered around minus five degrees as Shah made his way toward Hengipora, a dense forest in the Verinag range of Anantnag district, where a fire had been smoldering since December 5.

The elderly forest guard and a handful of colleagues had spent the previous two days trying to contain the blaze. They acted without protective clothing, fire beaters, helmets, and breathing equipment. Their only tools were bare hands, muck, and sheer determination.

In compartment 48 of the forest, as they tried to move away from advancing flames, Shah slipped down a steep slope of more than 50 meters. His injuries were grave, and he died while being transported to the Government Medical College Hospital in Anantnag.

His death exposes a longstanding neglect in forest protection and the vulnerability of those assigned to protect it.

Reports from local media indicate that this is not a single tragic incident but part of a pattern of systemic failure in the region.

Forest guards risk their lives every day, particularly during peak fire seasons, without the proper tools or training to manage such hazards.

Jammu and Kashmir is recognized by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change as a major forest fire hotspot in India.