Dehradun, Jan. 20 -- A forest fire reported in the Ukhimath range of the Kedarnath Wildlife Division in Rudraprayag district was brought under control on Monday, forest officials said. The area is about 35-40 kms from Kedarnath temple. According to officials, an alert regarding the fire was received from the Forest Survey of India (FSI) at around 3 pm on Sunday. However, forest staff had already received prior inputs about the incident and had rushed to the spot. Ukhimath forest range officer Vimal Kumar Bhatt said the fire was reported in the forests opposite Phata at an altitude of around 2,500-2,600 metres. "Our personnel immediately rushed to the site to douse the fire. The operation was challenging as the area has hard rock terrain and difficult access. The staff also had to cross a river to reach the spot," he said. Bhatt added that a team of 12 forest personnel was deployed, and the fire was finally brought under control by around 1 pm on Monday. "Approximately 1.5 hectares of forest land was affected in the incident," he said, adding that an investigation is underway to ascertain the cause of the fire. According to experts, no snowfall and rainfall in December and January has contributed to a surge in forest fires in Uttarakhand, experts said. Santosh Trivedi, a priest at Kedarnath, said, "This is the period when Kedarnath is usually covered under a thick blanket of snow, but this year the shrine has not witnessed any snowfall. Instead, incidents of fire are being reported in the surrounding mountains, which generally start in March..." Calling it the result of human interference with nature, he said traditions were being violated, labourers continued to stay in the area even after the temple's closure, and there was no proper system for waste disposal, which, according to him, were the main reasons behind the situation. Forest fires in Uttarakhand are typically reported between February and June, peaking in May and June. Uttarakhand has a forest cover of 24,303.83 sq km, accounting for 45.44% of its geographical area. The presence of human habitations near forested regions increases the risk of fires. Of the total forest cover, 0.10% falls under the extremely fire-prone category, 12.92% under very highly fire-prone, 27.64% under highly fire-prone, 20.01% under moderately fire-prone and 39.33% under the less fire-prone category. According to the India State of Forest Report 2023, published by the Forest Survey of India and released in December 2024, Uttarakhand reported 21,033 forest fires between November 2023 and June 2024 -the highest among all states -marking nearly a four-fold increase compared to the same period a year earlier....