Uttarakhand High Court
WPPIL/80/2024 on 19 February, 2025
Office Notes,
reports, orders
SL. or proceedings
Date COURT'S OR JUDGES'S ORDERS
No or directions and
Registrar's order
with Signatures
1 9 .0 2 .2 0 2 5 WPPI L No. 26 of 2025
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WPPI L No. 68 of 2018
WPPI L No. 127 of 2019
H on 'ble G. N a r e n da r , C.J.
H on 'ble Ashish N a it h a n i, J.
1. Heard learned counsel Sri Piyush Garg on behalf of t he pet it ioner in WPPI L No. 26/ 2025, learned counsel Sri Dushyant Mainali on behalf of t he pet it ioner in WPPI L No. 68/ 2018, Sri Manoj Singh Negi, pet it ioner, part y- in- person in WPPI L No. 127/ 2019, Sri C.S. Rawat , learned Chief St anding Counsel on behalf of t he St at e of Ut t arakhand, and Sri Lalit Sharm a and Manoj Kum ar, learned St anding Counsel on behalf of t he Union of I ndia.
2. I t has com e t o t he not ice of t he Court t hat cert ain em ployees of t he Forest Depart m ent have been abst aining from work. The sit uat ion, wit h regard t o forest fires, being alarm ing, t he Court would suggest t o t he workers, who are abst aining from work, t o desist from doing so, and act ively part icipat e in t he fire m anagem ent exercises. This order be com m unicat ed t o t he President of t he Forest Guards Associat ion, which is spearheading t he prot est . We hope t hat t his order is appreciat ed by t he m em bers of t he Associat ion in t he right spirit , and we hope t hat t hey resum e t heir work and com m ence dut ies from t om orrow.
3. Sri Dhananj ay Mohan, Principal Chief Conservat or of Forest s ( HoFF) is present before t he Court in com pliance of our earlier direct ions.
4. The PCCF has set out in det ail t he m easures t hat have been adopt ed t o cont rol t he forest blazes, w hich inevit ably occur during high sum m er season. We deem t he sit uat ion alarm ing in view of t he fact t hat forest fires have st art ed even before t he sum m er has set -in. He would subm it t hat t he current forest fires are on account of fallen pine needles, and despit e t heir best effort s, fires break out , and while som e fires occur on it s ow n, som e are deliberat e. He would furt her elaborat e t o t his Court about t he st at e of affairs of t he " forest fire lines" . He would st at e t hat earlier t here was a prohibit ion for felling of forest t rees, as per direct ions of t he Hon'ble Apex Court , but now t hat perm ission has been grant ed, alm ost 400 km s " forest fire lines" have been draw n, and t here is m ore t o be done, and t hat t he work is t aken up wit h ut m ost earnest ness.
5. This Court has queried, as t o whet her t echnology can be adapt ed in t heir fire fight ing process, say for inst ance using drones t o carry wat er t o int erior places, and spray wat er t o st op fires. He would subm it t hat no such drones are being used as of now, but would subm it t hat t he Depart m ent would exam ine t his suggest ion in det ail, and w ould subm it a response t o t he Court .
6. Learned counsel Sri Piyush Garg has also suggest ed t hat several handheld equipm ent s can be handed over t o t he forest guards and t he fire- w at chers, and t hat t hese equipm ent s, like fire rakes ( Kanghi) , fire broom ( Jhaapa) , fire beat er, m odified sickle ( pat hal) , t orch, forest fire t ool kit , dual bag fire pum p, backpack m ist blow er, backpack wat er pum p, drip t orch, et c. and would suggest t hat t hese t ools w ould help in inst ant ly cont rolling sm all fires.
7. The PCCF would subm it t hat t hey have 14000 fire rakes, and t hat t he perm anent st aff, aft er t he recruit m ent , is now in t he range of 85% of sanct ioned st rengt h, and t hat apart t hey engage about 4300 fire- wat chers during t he season, and t hat apart t hey engage m ore t han 1200 personnel on t em porary basis t o m onit or and cont rol fire blazing act ivit ies, and m ore t han 10000 personnel are engaged on a daily basis t o carry out various act ivit ies of t he Forest Depart m ent , and also in cont rolling forest fires.
8. Learned counsel Sri Dushyant Mainali in WPPI L No. 68/ 2018, and Sri Manoj Singh Negi, pet it ioner, part y- in- person in WPPI L No. 127/ 2019, would subm it t hat t here are inst ances, where som e of t hese cont rolled fires have gone out of cont rol and t urned int o large blazes and t hat one such blaze had occurred in Bhowali, Nainit al.
9. The PCCF furt her elaborat ing has subm it t ed t hat t he Forest Depart m ent is now using t he services of t he Forest Survey of I ndia, which forw ards sat ellit e im ages of t he forest fires, and t hat now t he Forest Depart m ent has recent ly t ied up wit h t he I ndian Met eorological Depart m ent t o give t hem weat her updat es, and t hat t he sam e has helped in reducing t he t im e in det ect ing and react ing t o a forest fire. He would subm it t hat earlier t he response t im e was about 10- 12 hours, which t im e has now reduced t o a couple of hours due t o available inform at ion from t he above depart m ent s. The Court has suggest ed t hat t he weat her st at us, including wind condit ions, be circulat ed t o t he people and all t he st aff on t he ground, so as t o enable t hem t o assess, as t o whet her cont rolled fires can be st art ed or not , as it is com m on know ledge t hat a sm all fire can becom e a blaze in a m at t er of m inut es in t he face of st rong w inds.
10. I t is not in doubt t hat t he forest fires severely affect not only t he flora and fauna, but also t he biodiversit y in general, and also have an im pact on t he healt h of t he public. I n t hat view, t he recurring forest fires are a cause for alarm , and call for det ailed m easures t o be put in place and adopt ed as " st andard operat ing procedure" t o ensure t hat an act ion is im m ediat ely com m enced and t hereby m inim alize t he im pact of forest fires.
11. The PCCF is direct ed t o place before t his Court t he det ailed act ion plan drawn up by t he Depart m ent for t he purpose of cont rolling forest fires. The PCCF shall also place before t his Court t he plans drawn up for creat ing forest fire lines and t he t im e- line t o com plet e t he sam e.
12. The pet it ioners, and learned counsels are also perm it t ed t o place such m at erial, or suggest ions, w hich t hey are of t he opinion, w ould enhance t he fire fight ing capacit y of t he Forest Depart m ent .
13. List t his case on 03.03.2025 .
14. On t he next dat e of hearing, t he PCCF ( HoFF) is perm it t ed t o appear virt ually.
( Ash ish N a it ha ni, J.) ( G. N a r e nda r , C.J.) 1 9 .0 2 .2 0 2 5 1 9 .0 2 .2 0 2 5 Rahul