Similarly, in Himachal Pradesh, there has been 10 times rise in forest fire incidents. The FSI recorded 985 forest fires this year, against 97 incidents last year. Likewise in Uttarakhand, 2,442 forest fires were reported this year, against 576 last year. Experts cite the emergence of the El Nino phenomenon this year, which caused a record rise in temperature during the deficit summer monsoon, as one of the reasons behind the rise in fires. Also, the winter in 2023-24 was dry, which increased forest fuel loads and created a conducive condition for forest fires.“Last year, lesser forest fires had increased fuel loads in the forest. This contributed to a large number of forest fires in western Himalayas this year,” said Nishant Mandhotra, Himachal Pradesh nodal officer for controlling forest fires.
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