IAF chopper resumes dousing forest fires on day 2 in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal

An Indian Air Force chopper on Tuesday resumed its operation on the second day to douse the forest fire near Adwani village in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district. Thick smoke from intense forest fires engulfed Srinagar town in Pauri Garhwal earlier in the day, causing a delay in the resumption of the aerial firefighting operation by the IAF helicopter. Garhwal divisional forest officer Swapnil Anirudh said, “The IAF chopper resumed its operation to douse the forest fires near Adwani and nearby areas in the afternoon on the second day. Meanwhile, the Congress party attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party government saying chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami was busy in election campaigns outside the state even as fire raged in the forests of the state, gutting hundreds of hectares of forest land Suryakant Dhasmana, state Congress vice president, said, “The situation of forest fires continues to deteriorate in the state with each passing day, but CM Dhami is busy in the election campaign for his party outside the state. The people of the state appreciate the BJP government for the courageous work.” CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, who arrived in Dehradun on Tuesday, will take a review meeting on the forest fires in the state.