In the summer of 1995, the hills of Pauri Garhwal and Kumaon were witness to extensive forest fires. The conflagration decimated a massive forest area and at the same time, underscored the total collapse of the so-called Modern Forest Fire Control project and the hi-tech Air Operation Wing ( aow ) of the mef (Down to Earth, Vol 4, No. 4) . The aow had been created in 1991 to maintain two aircraft received from the undp and use them to fight forest fires in unapproachable areas. Of the two