The Supreme Court has criticized the Uttarakhand government for insufficient funding and assigning state forest officials to Lok Sabha election duties amid ongoing forest fire situation. Since November 1, 2022, the hilly state has been facing hundreds of active wildfires, damaging around 1,145 hectares of forest. The apex court also criticized the Indian government for granting only 3.15 crore to combat the fires, against a demand of 10 crore. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s ‘Pirul Lao-Paise Pao’ campaign gained momentum, as villagers collected ‘Pirul’ in Dehradun.