Fire broke out in Nowroz Baba forests of Tangmarg division late Friday. A fire broke out in compartment number 25 of Pathribal forests in the lower reaches of Pir Panjal mountain range in Nowroz Baba, turning many trees into ashes, reports said.
“We are on the job since last evening and the fire has almost been brought under control. I was personally monitoring the dousing process,” said Divisional Forest Officer Tangmarg. “Forests in Kashmir are burning continuously from last two days in Six Districts. Bandipora, Kangan (Wangath), Islamabad, Srinagar, Kupwara (Zagipora) and Budgam (Nowrozbaba Khag).
We have very thin forest cover left, now but unfortunately we are losing it with every passing day,” Journalist Rifat Abdullah wrote on his Facebook profile. The forest department has not been able to douse the flames in time due to which fire spread to a vast area.