JAMMU, March 23 -- As many as 1,243 forest fires were reported in Jammu and Kashmir in the 2024-25 financial year, more than double than the previous fiscal but almost identical compared to 2022-23, Forest Minister Javed Ahmad Rana has said.
However, most of the incidents are ground fires where only grass and bushes get burnt and tall trees are not affected, he said in a written reply to an unstarred question by the BJP's Balwant Singh Mankotia in the Legislative Assembly here on Saturday.
The minister said a total of 1553 incidents of forest fire were reported, covering an area of 2774.213 hectares, in the 2022-23 financial year but the number dropped to 607 over an area of 987.24 hectares in 2023-24.
In the current financial year till ...