Horrific images of Uttarakhand fire circulate on social media, officials call it fake. Fact check
Randeep Hooda urged people not to compare Uttarakhand fire with Amazon or Australia fire
Devastating visuals of the forest fire in Uttarakhand flooded Twitter on Wednesday morning creating a panic on social media. Forest fire in Uttarakhand is not new, it happens every year due to increased temperatures. But some horrifying images were circulated on Twitter which sent shockwaves across the social media users on Wednesday morning.
#Uttarakhand is burning, Many species r in danger nd wildlife diversity r affected..
We hope that this fire is extinguished as soon as possible.. Please God save the nature from this terrible and dangerous fire🙏..
Really this year is getting worse😫..#UttarakhandForestFire pic.twitter.com/YibbO2Wy0H— Anand Shukla (@Ananshukla90) May 26, 2020
Forest fire 🔥breaks out in #Uttarakhand
All the worst things are taking place in 2020.
🥺💔#Uttarakhandforestfire pic.twitter.com/jmR9lxYDdv— RishiDeep (@Alwaysurishi) May 25, 2020
Officials say that visuals are fake
The chief conservator of forests for western circle in Uttarakhand, Parag Madhukar Dhakate said that there is a lot of misinformation, fake news and old photos being circulated on social media. The fire has reduced and because it is raining every few days, there is moisture and less fire in forests.
He also said that there is no massive fire in Uttarakhand. Forest workers are trying to stop the fire and there has not been any major incident of the recent forest fire.
Forest Officer Anita Kunwar said that a fire broke out in Srinagar area of the Garhwal, Uttarakhand on May 23. As per the forest department, the fire broke out in the forest area which is 3 kilometres away from the Srinagar town. The fire has affected around 5-6 hectare of forest and it could not be contained because of the heavy wind.
Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda posted a tweet related to the subject and said that forest fires are a natural phenomenon which rejuvenates the forest. He also compared the forest fire statistics of 2020 from 2019. Extradition actor Randeep Hooda urged the people not to compare the Uttarakhand fire with Amazon and Australia fire. Have a look at his tweet.
Forest fires are a natural phenomenon that rejuvenates the forest & they happen every year..as per my research, this year #forestfires have been relatively low in #Uttarakhand so far..pls don’t compare them to Australia & the Amazon & spread panic 🙏🏽#PrayForUttarakhand #FakeNews pic.twitter.com/F5oHGnit3D
— Randeep Hooda (@RandeepHooda) May 27, 2020
How much of forest fire this year?
It has been reported that Uttarakhand has witnessed 46 wildlife incidents of fire so far this year which has destroyed forest cover of around 51.34 hectares. Forest department had to incur a loss of Rs 1.32 lakh. Kumaon region has reported a maximum of 21 forest fire and Garhwal region has recorded 16 incidents of forest fire and reserve forest areas in the state has witnessed 9 wildfires.
Recently, there is a huge public outcry over the Uttarakhand Forests Fires with misleading & old images being shared on various social media platforms. The Uttarakhand Forest Department forest fire crews are at the forest fire points dousing the forest fires. (1/n) pic.twitter.com/dKoV2tpQd5
— Dr. PM Dhakate (@paragenetics) May 27, 2020
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We also urge our readers not to trust the images coming from unverified sources. Also, we urge you not to share images and videos which can create panic. First ensure that the image, videos or messages are coming from the verified source, then only share or comment on it.
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