Pithoragarh, May 4 (PTI) Air services to Pithoragarh and Munsiyari towns of the border district remained suspended for the second day on Saturday due to poor visibility around the Naini-Saini airport caused by smoke rising from the burning forests.

Visibility around the airport and its surroundings remained less than 1000-metre, which is required to be at least 5000 metres for air fliers to operate, officials said.

Also Read | Prajwal Revanna Sex Scandal: Kidnapped Woman Traced to Farmhouse of JDS MLA HD Revanna's Personal Assistant in Mysuru (Watch Video).

"Visibility in Saur valley where the airport is located has dropped drastically due to smoke being emitted by forest fires," SDM Ashish Kumar Mishra said.

The smoke rising from the forests is so dense in both Pithoragarh and Munsiyari that even the mountain peaks are not visible, he said.

Also Read | Gulbarga Lok Sabha Election 2024: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge Toils Hard to Turn the Tide in This Parliamentary Constituency of Karnataka Through Son-in-Law Radhakrishna Doddamani Who Will Face BJP’s Sitting MP Umesh Jadhav.

"Air passengers to Pithoragarh and Haldwani are disappointed due to cancellation of both the services. Efforts are on to douse the forest fires to clear the weather," Mishra said.

The air service is operated by an aircraft of Fly Big company from Dehradun to Pithoragarh while the heli services are operated by Heritage aviation company from Haldwani to Pithoragarh and Munsiyari.

Besides Saur valley, the forest fires are raging in Quirala valley of Champawat and the

forests of Lohaghat, Jhoolaghat and Gaurihat.

"We had to take extra care in going towards Jhoolaghat from Gaurihat as the visibility on the 10-km-long road is so poor that no vehicle could be seen from beyond 10-metre distance due to smokes emitting from forest fires in surrounding jungles," said Vikram Singh Rawat, a tourist who had gone to Jhoolaghat.

According to medical officers in community and primary health centres at various places in the district, an increased number of patients are coming to the hospitals complaining of difficulty in breathing and irritation in the eyes.

"These problems are caused by smoke coming from the raging forest fires," Jhoolaghat PHC in charge Harish Chandra Rawat said.

(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)