Mussoorie, March 6 -- A forest fire broke out in parts of the Pindar range under the Badrinath forest division and in the Nandprayag forest range of Chamoli district on Thursday, forest officials said. According to officials, the fire was reported around 11 am near Deval and quickly spread across forest areas in the Pindar and Nandprayag ranges. Divisional forest officer (DFO) Sarvesh Kumar Dubey said more than 32 forest personnel have been deployed to control the blaze. "We received reports of the forest fire in areas under the Pindar and Nandprayag forest ranges near Deval around 11 am on Thursday. More than 32 forest department personnel have been deployed to douse the fire," Dubey said. Forest officials said the blaze has spread across nearly two hectares of forest land in areas under Karnaprayag, Nandprayag, and the east and west Pindar forest ranges. Forest range officer Hemant Bisht said teams are working continuously to prevent the fire from spreading further. "The fire has affected more than two hectares of forest area across Karnaprayag, Nandprayag and the Pindar ranges. Around 32 forest personnel have been roped in to contain the blaze," Bisht said. Officials said the Nandprayag forest range has seven forest crew stations, each staffed with five to 10 fire watchers who remain on constant vigil and report any fresh outbreak of forest fires. Forest officials attributed the recent rise in forest fires to increasing temperatures and human activity, particularly villagers setting fire to dry bushes near settlements to reduce the risk of encounters with wild animals. "The lack of winter moisture has made the forests highly combustible. We are conducting awareness campaigns urging villagers not to light fires near forest areas as it could aggravate the situation," Dubey said....