 According to government sources, the forest fires combined have destroyed nearly 4048 hectares of land in 1857 incidents.Reports were published in the local media which variously blamed local people and timber mafia for the forest fires.Environmental journalist Bahar Dutt blamed the television media for their "Delhi centric world view" that disregarded the historical and ecological natural causes of fire, due to the high density of pine trees that increases the fire hazards.