Dehradun, May 26: As the country is yet to recover from the novel coronavirus pandemic, Uttarakhand has been struck by another tragedy. The state has been burning for the past four days. With the rise in mercury, more than 45 forest fire incidents have been reported in the state, affected over 71 hectares of forest lands putting to danger the wildlife species living in forests. Last year, similar wildfires destroyed Hundreds of Hectares of Land in Almora, Nainital, Tehri, Dehradun and Haldwani.

At least 21 instances of forest fires have been reported in the Kumaon region, while the Garhwal region has witnessed 16. The reserve forest area saw nine such incidents of forest fires. According to reports, two people have lost their lives due to wildfires, while one person is injured.

Several pictures of Uttarakhand forest fires are going viral on the internet. The images shared by Twitteratis show devastating affected of the wildfires. Forest Fire in Himachal Pradesh: Massive Blaze Engulfs Jungle in Chaura Area of Kinnaur District.

Take a Look at the Massive Forest Fires in Uttarakhand:

Meanwhile, this year forest fire incidents have come down compared to last year, according to the graph shared by PIB Uttarakhand. According to data, 71.46 hectares of land has been affected due to wildfire till Ma 25 compared to 1590 hectares of land during the same period last year.

PIB India Tweet:

The Press Information Bureau in a tweet advised people to not fall "prey to misinformation". "Forest fires have come down a lot this season. Partly due to less anthropogenic activity and partly due to rains," it said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 26, 2020 09:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).