A massive fire broke out in Tanda forest in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani today due to which, the key highway from Delhi has been closed. The tourists travelling to and from Delhi, as well as the locals, have been asked to travel through alternate routes via Lalkuan to reach Haldwani and Nainital. 

The Delhi highway to Haldwani has been closed by the police and administration due to security reasons. 

The fire broke out in Tanda and Bhakra range at around 2 pm today and is getting bigger. The fire department along with the forest department officials are engaged in extinguishing the fire. However, the smoke and fog has affected the visibility in the area, making it difficult to put the fire off. 

The forest department officials are currently inside the forest trying to extinguish the fire, however, it will expectedly take more time to put the fire off completely. 

In several videos from the spot, the cops and fire department officials can be seen putting the fire off with hose and even twigs.

This incident comes days after another fire broke out in the Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttarakhand’s Almora district. While trying to extinguish the fire, four forest workers were killed and four were injured on June 14, according to news agency PTI.  

Due to the ongoing heatwave, the incidents of forest fires in Uttarakhand have been raging. Several incidents of forest fires in Uttarakhand have been reported in the near past.