DHAKA: Some six people have died in the fires and thousands of people are battling deadly forest fires in India's northern Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.
Fire burned more than 1,900 hectares of forest, BBC reports on Monday (May 2).
The fires broke out a month ago, but intensified in recent days with more than 400 burning simultaneously.
They have not yet hit Himalayan tourist towns, but villagers say that smoke has affected air quality and visibility.
Officials say fires have been widespread this year because the forest is exceptionally dry due to low rainfall.
‘This can be compared with the worst fire of 2012’, said environment and forests minister Prakash Javadekar.
BDST: 1419 HRS, MAY 2, 2016
SAS/RR