Massive forest fire rages in India's Uttarakhand

A massive forest fire is raging in the hilly regions of India's northern state of Uttarakhand and has damaged huge stretches of forest, officials said Sunday.

Officials said more than 1,900 hectares of forest land have been affected by the fire in the Kumaoun and Garwal region, east of Dehradun, the capital city of Uttarakhand.

Reports however said the blaze has so far killed seven people and damaged around 3,000 hectares of forest cover in 13 districts of the state.

Indian authorities Sunday pressed in Air Force's MI-17 helicopters in affected areas to spray water and douse flames that are spreading wildly.

The fresh fire triggered Thursday after which three teams of disaster response force and army were deployed in Almora, Gauchar and Pauri and Nainital to contain the inferno and intensify firefighting operations.

Television reports said the smoke has affected visibility in the area.

Locals said columns of smoke emanate from the stretches that are under fire and small flames were visible from a distance.

Officials said since February, 922 incidents of forest fire incidents were recorded in the state.

Though exact reason behind the fire was unknown, officials however suspect the continued dry spell and hand of timber mafia. Endit