History of Forest Fire in Uttaranchal Hills in 20^th Century

Uttaranchal is highly vulnerable to various natural disasters. Forest fire is very common in Uttaranchal hills. Forest fires have caused significant damage to the forest ecosystem. The Forest fire occur between April to June annually when the climate is hot and dry in Uttaranchal hills. Forest fires are caused by natural causes and man made causes. The present paper is an attempt to look in to the various forest fires disasters and there impact in Uttaranchal hills. In Uttranchal 8 hill districts mainly Chamoli, Pithoragarh, Almora, Nainital, Uttarkashi, Dehradun, Tehri, and Pouri, are highly vulnerable area of forest fire. Every year one third of all forests are affected by the forest fire in Uttranchal. In the recent years a very large part of the forest has been destroyed in Uttranchal in the name of development. During the British period, the fire was prevented in the summer through removal of forest litter all along the forest boundary this was called “forest fire line”. In the recent years satellite remote sensing techniques have greatly helped to assess forest fire. It is very essential to mitigate forest fire for protecting our flora and fauna and our ecosystem. A strategy needs to be evolved to minimize the damage Caused by forest fire.