The Northern state of Uttarakhand has been grappling with forest fires for the past two weeks, destroying over 1000 acres of forest area. Amid this, a video of a man surfaced on social media wherein he was seen boasting about setting fire to forests.
“See guys, we are finally setting the forests on fire. Our job is to set things on fire and play with it. We keep playing with fire. And today we are here to do this yet again. We will turn these mountains and leaves into ashes,” a man was heard saying.
“We keep on doing this. This is my uncle Sukhlal who keep setting forests on fire. Never mess with people who know how to burn down things. Never challenge Biharis,” he continued. Later in the video, another man was spotted welding a stick.
Migrants from Bihar burn forest in Uttarakhand and say "We will burn down entire forest, dont challenge Biharis"
— Arvind Chandra (@ArvindChandra8) May 3, 2024
बिहार से आए प्रवासी ने उत्तराखण्ड के जंगल में आग लगाई।
और कहा कि “ हम सभी जंगलों को जला देंगे, बिहारियो को चैलेंज मत करना।#Uttrakhand #Bihar pic.twitter.com/5LuOY6q5jR
The date of the recording of the video remains unknown at this point. On Sunday (28th April), the Uttarakhand Forest Department arrested five labourers from Bihar for setting fire to reserved forest areas of Khirsu.
They were identified as Mosar Alam, Nazifar Alam, Nurul, Salim and Feroz Alam.
The Uttarakhand police have arrested 52 people so far for setting fire to forests and destroying several acres of pristine land. As per reports, a total of 804 incidents of forest fires have been recorded and 315 cases have been registered under the Forest Conservation Act.
The forest fires have impacted human settlements, wild animals and even water sources.
