Dehradun, May 2 (PTI) Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday called for adopting the model of Sheetalakhet in Almora district to contain raging forest fire incidents in the state and appointing nodal officers in all affected districts.

He said residents of Sheetalakhet have decided not to burn agricultural waste in the fields during the entire fire season to save forest wealth.

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The chief minister was speaking after reviewing the forest fire situation in the state.

He said women and youth "mangal dals" in Sheetalakhet have also vowed to protect the forests and environment, adding that it should be adopted as a model by the rest of the affected districts.

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Dhami also suggested that nodal officers for forest fire incidents be appointed in all districts, most modern technology be used to contain the blazes and DFOs should constantly patrol the areas.

Officers should be made accountable for controlling forest fire incidents that occur during the Char Dham yatra which begins on Tuesday, he added.

Thirty-six forest fire incidents affecting 54.8 hectares of forest land were reported on Monday.

A total of 1,880 forest fire incidents have occurred so far this fire season, affecting 3,010.54 hectares and causing losses worth Rs 78,80,279. One person was killed in the fire and six people were injured.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)