Fire, fire burning bright…

Spring has laid carpet for summer in the Queen of the Hills; the scent of the wild flowers has sent invitation for joviality to the exotic birds, butterflies and insects. It is mating and nesting time for most of them. The lure of love in the mountains has begun drawing tourists from plains to the haven of romance, Mussoorie.

Everything was going perfectly alright barring the disaster beyond repair; the fire in the Bhilaru-Toneta forest, which is on from April 27, 2010 has engulfed a large area. A brief spell of shower has also failed to control the raging fire. It is indeed sad to see the young oak trees beneath the canopy, which takes 50 to 60 years to attain adulthood, have been charred in the forest which is the source of the major water supply to the town as oak is the prime preserver of the ground water, leave alone the countless wild habitats which included mammals, reptiles, insects, birds and their eggs and young ones that succumbed to the flames.

The annual 'mandatory ritual' of forest fire is mostly celebrated by the ignorant section of people of the villages surrounding Mussoorie. This bunch of orthodox people set fire to the already endangered forests. Most of these people are cattle herders who want a speedy growth of hay in the forest, for their cattle, which they believe is possible only after setting the dry grassland on fire. Other contributors toward the forest fire are the farmers who set the weeds on their fields on fire in preparation for the next crop, a practice which is on in Bahman Gaon fields these days.

And a very common reason is dumping of cigarettes stubs which retains the burning tobacco for long. Each year any of the above actions put the future of the forest and its flora fauna in dilemma. The fire shown to a single blade of grass turns violent within a few minutes and engulfs the whole of the forest destroying every single living creature with it. The avifauna can fly for refuge but their eggs and young ones along with mammals and reptiles on the ground get roasted. Most of these friends from the wild are already on the verge of extinction.

On the other hand, the horrible smoke hovering over the town of Mussoorie has dangerously raised the temperature and has overpowered the mesmerizing fragrance of creepy roses which are in full bloom these days. And to garnish with some toppings, the cleaning crew of the Nagar Paalika Parishad Mussoorie pollute the aromatic roads of Mussoorie with small fires which they set to whatever they sweep aside. The fresh aroma of pollination and that of the perfumes of finery is being polluted by the foul smelling smoke suspending over the mall road.

Tourists can be seen covering their nose with handkerchief walking on the otherwise quiet roads of Mussoorie, which is extremely busy these days with speeding and honking vehicles of the fire and forest departments. Recently, the Gaddi Khana dumb yard was on fire for several days and is still smoking. The DFO Mussoorie is out of town attending some forest convocation; however the former DFO A.K. Banerjee commented speaking to Mussoorie Plus, "The only solution I perceive is awareness campaigns and vigilance by the administration, both on the van panchaayat and the state level. The Wynberg Allen School's private forest is a praiseworthy example from where there hasn't been a single report of forest fire". Thankfully, the Forest Departments Crew Station in-charge Balbir Singh Rawat with his seven member team accompanied by Kirpal Singh and his allies from the Rukmani Niwas Camel's Back road have been able to combat the Bhilaru-Toneta fire to a very little extent using age-old methods in the time of globalization and sophistications. And this is not the end, the forest fires, god forbids, are very likely to reoccur in the near future. Nobody seems to bother about nothing, and soon, there will be nothing left. For the past few years it hasn't been snowing the way it used to.

Deforestation and illegal construction is in the full swing.