Dehradun, Feb. 7 -- The state forest department has started to strengthen inter-departmental coordination to respond swiftly to forest fire incidents, officials familiar with the matter said on Friday. According to forest officials, coordination is being enhanced with departments such as revenue, police, disaster management, and local administration to ensure quicker response and better ground-level management during fire emergencies in forests. Forest fires in the Himalayan state are typically reported between February and June, while the incidents peak in May and June, significantly impacting biodiversity, affecting soil microorganisms, wildlife, insects, birds and communities living near forested areas. Chief conservator of forests and state nodal officer for forest fires Sushant Patnaik said the department is fully prepared to deal with forest fires and focusing on strengthening coordination with departments such as revenue, police, disaster management, and local administration to ensure quicker response and better ground-level management during fire emergencies in forests. "We are fully prepared to deal with forest fires as the season begins on February 15 and are in the process of identifying existing gaps. Our focus is to strengthen coordination with departments such as revenue, police, disaster management and local administration to ensure a quicker response and better ground-level management during forest fire emergencies," Patnaik said. "A mock drill will also be conducted on February 13 to check preparedness for forest fires," he said. 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 state forest department, 58 forest fire incidents have been reported since November 1....