Udhampur Forest Division unveils master plan to combat summer wildfires

The Udhampur Forest Division launched a master plan to tackle summer wildfires. The plan focuses on awareness and prevention, with outreach programs in villages to train locals as first responders for fire incidents in the Jammu and Kashmir region.

In response to rapidly rising summer temperatures and an elevated risk of wildfires, the Udhampur Forest Division on Friday launched a comprehensive master plan centred on awareness, prevention, caution, and control to minimise environmental damage across the region.

As part of this initiative, specialised department teams are actively conducting extensive village outreach programs throughout the Mand Panchayat in the Udhampur district to equip residents with vital survival, emergency response, and containment skills.

DFO Urges Locals to Act as First Responders

In response to rising summer wildfire risks, Divisional Forest Officer Satyendra Maurya urged Udhampur residents to act as crucial first responders following a specialised mitigation workshop and two recent fire incidents. "On behalf of the Udhampur Forest Division, we organised a forest fire control and mitigation workshop. The possibility of forest fires grows during the summer. We organised an awareness camp with locals, the forest department, and other sister wings. We appealed to the locals that they have an important role to play in case of mitigating forest fires because they are the first responders. There were two minor incidents of forest fires recently," Maurya told ANI.

Community Pledges Support for Forest Protection

A local from Mand Panchayat, Razaq Mohammad, speaking to ANI, said, "Officers from the forest department and the DFO made us aware about not lighting fires in the forest. They also organised a mock drill to prepare us for what to do in case of a forest fire."

Emphasising community responsibility, Mand Panchayat local Jyoti Prakash Sharma highlighted that safeguarding the forest is a collective duty, sharing vital containment techniques learned during the workshop. "This forest is a national treasure for us. Safeguarding this forest is not a one man's job. We have a forest department, but we have to be responsible for it too. We were taught today that before dousing the fire, we have to ensure first that it does not spread," said Sharma.

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