On May 2, Gyanu Chalaune and his wife Basanti trudged up the hills in Sunrakot village in the scenic district of Almora in Uttarakhand to collect resin from the chir pine trees in the forest. The couple had moved from Nepal to Uttarakhand just last year for a better life and education for their three children. The temperature that morning was above 30°C. They worked to extract the resin, called leesa in the hills, for Ramesh Bakuni, a contractor. They earned ₹50,000-60,000 if they worked for 10 hours a day for six months.
As they were getting ready to leave, the couple heard a scream. They saw a man running on the hilltop, desperately trying to shake off flames that had engulfed him. They realised with horror that he was Deepak Pujara, a friend. The Chalaunes scrambled to the hilltop and found Pujara’s wife, Tara, lying on the ground, half burnt. Quickly, they broke a green branch off a nearby tree and began hitting Pujara, even as their clothes caught fire. Before anyone could help them, the four victims were severely burnt. All of them succumbed to injuries in hospital.
