Uttarakhand High Court Slams State Government for Failure to Control Forest Fires

12Nainital: Uttarakhand high court (HC) on Friday came down heavily on the state govt for its repeated failure to controlforest fires, remarking that such blazes have now turned into "a festival-like annual event" in the state.A division bench of Chief Justice G Narendar and Justice Subhash Upadhyay, while hearing multiple public interest litigations (PILs) concerning forest fires and environmental degradation, expressed strong displeasure over the govt's "continued inaction" despite consistent directions issued by the court since 2017 to adopt preventive and mitigation measures.The bench observed that "no concrete steps have been taken" to implement earlier court orders, and directed the state govt to file a detailed compliance report by Monday, outlining progress made so far.The matter will be taken up again on the same day.Expressing alarm over the ecological consequences of recurring fires, the court said "frequent blazes are causing extensive ecological loss, destroying wildlife habitats, endangering lives and contributing to rising temperatures in the Himalayan region." The judges also linked the rise in landslides and cloudbursts to environmental imbalances aggravated by unchecked forest fires.Court-appointed amicus curiae Dushyant Mainali and other experts proposed several measures to the bench. The court suggested that the state explore the creation of "khaals" — traditional water reservoirs — across higher altitudes and interlink them to form natural fire lines. This, the bench noted, could serve as an effective and sustainable mechanism to contain forest fires during the dry season.The amicus curiae informed the court that since 2021, the govt has "done little beyond giving assurances to the court".The court recalled its 2016 and 2017 orders, which had directed the formation of village-level fire management committees, public awareness drives and long-term forest protection strategies. "Most of these directives remain unfulfilled," the court noted.The high court had earlier taken suo motu cognisance of news reports highlighting large-scale forest fires in 2021, following which the State Legal Services Authority had also written to the Chief Justice, urging urgent judicial intervention to protect forests and wildlife.Despite these interventions, the bench said the "state has not demonstrated tangible results on the ground." It added that the govt's reliance on helicopters to douse fires was "not only expensive but largely ineffective," and stressed the need for community-based, ground-level participation in fire prevention and control.The bench warned that continued non-compliance with its directions "will not be tolerated", reaffirming that the court would ensure strict accountability and environmental protection in Uttarakhand.