Shimla, February 19: A massive forest fire broke out in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district on Wednesday. According to a tweet by ANI, the fire broke out at Chaura area of the district. Forest fires have been a growing challenge for the northern states, especially the hill states- Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Reports inform that the forest fire incidents in and around Shimla, Kinnaur and several other areas of the hill state are also increasing each day.

In 2019, over 500 forest fire cases have been reported from Himachal Pradesh affecting an area of over 2600 hectare of forests in the state. Reports inform that the forest fire incidents in the state have caused an estimated loss of nearly Rs 49,000. Uttarakhand Forest Fires: Massive Wildfires Cause Havoc in Tehri Forests.

Here's the tweet:

Earlier this month, Minister of State in the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Babul Supriyo had said in Rajya Sabha that forest fires affected 93,273 hectares in India in 2019. Supriyo underlined the extent of destruction that forest fires cause, which loses Rs 1,176 crore a year to these disasters.

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 19, 2020 09:38 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).