Revision as of 21:26, 28 May 2018

The year-wise occurrence of fores

2012-15

Forest fires, Uttarakhand; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, May 3, 2016

Satellite images of forest fires in Uttarakhand, 2012 and 2015; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, May 3, 2016

Uttarakhand's rain deficit, June 2015-April 2016; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, May 3, 2016

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Forest fires, Uttarakhand

Satellite images of forest fires in Uttarakhand, 2012 and 2015

Uttarakhand's rain deficit, June 2015-April 2016

2018, May: 19th, 20th

70 ha of forests lost in U’khand fires in 2 days, May 22, 2018: The Times of India

At least 57 small and big incidents of fires and 65 fire alerts were reported from forests across Uttarakhand in the past three days in both Garhwal and Kumaon divisions.

“A total of 69.71hectares of forest area was lost due to fire incidents on Saturday and Sunday while we haven’t yet collated the damages caused in incidents on Monday,” BP Gupta, chief conservator of forests told TOI. He added that the economic loss due to the fires was estimated to be Rs 3.5 lakh.

“The main cause of the fires was negligence on part of people who had lit a fire in or near the forest area. Thankfully, there have been no reports of any loss to life or injuries,” he said.

Forest officials said that fires have been reported from Bageshwar, Srinagar, Almora, Haridwar and Haldwani among other places.

In Uttarkashi, district administration confirmed that around 9 hectare forest land had been gutted in wildfire.

Remedies, preventive steps

The Times of India, May 08 2016

Sharma Seema

Flames have destroyed 4,000 hectares of forests. From clearing pine needles to fire lines, here are some lessons that need to be learnt Finally , Uttarakhand's forests are no longer ablaze. The last of the fires were doused on Wednesday as the skies opened up and the rain gods took over the firefighting job from 11,000 personnel. By then, almost 4,000 hectares of the Himalayan state's forest cover had been gutted. The economic loss is still being calculated but the cost to the environment may be worse. Scientists warn that the black carbon from the fires may melt glaciers, cause a delay in the monsoons and pollute rivers. Massive soil erosion due to loss of the upper soil layer may also trigger floods if the monsoons are heavy this year.

Pine needles menace

What could have fanned the blaze? Was it the chir pine trees that make up 16-17% of the state's forests? The highly combustible pine needles from these trees are believed to be a major culprit in the fires spreading rapidly across the jungles. According to estimates, more than 3 crore tonnes of pine needles spread across the state's 53 lakh hectares of forest have not been cleared for years. “These pine needles are filled with resin and are ticking time bombs which can raze entire jungles with one flick of a matchstick,“ says environmentalist Anil Joshi. The high temperature and dry earth due to scanty rainfall in the winter months may have added further fuel.

Now, the forest department is asking villagers staying near forests to take away the pine needles -as many as they want. State forest secretary S Ramaswamy says the government is also exploring ways to utilize them as raw material in small electric projects, making of fuel bricks, etc.

Maintaining fire lines

Proven fire-preventing practices, some dating to colonial times, have been ignored. Over 4,500 fire lines -stretches kept vegetation-free to stop fires from spreading -most of which were set up by the British, have not been maintained for years. These are now overgrown with trees, which cannot be removed due to a Supreme Court ban on tree-felling above an altitude of 1,000 metres. Ramaswamy says there are now plans to clear the fire lines and the government is “waiting for a written order from the environment ministry“.

Fund crunch

Meanwhile, the blame game is on. “A Rs 8-crore fund was released from the CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Au thority) scheme to make arrangements for fire control and clear the fire lines.The fund, which should have been made available to the forest department by January, came just a week ago when large parts of the forest had been gutted,“ says a senior forest official.

Delay in funds is a primary reason cited by officials for not containing the fires in time. “It is essential that funds are made available in December-January before the start of the fire season so that forest officials can be provided with the necessary equipment and sufficient manpower is at hand, especially fire watchers and labourers who can work on clearing old fire lines and making new ones,“ says Amit Negi, state disaster management secretary.

Who's accountable?

Experts say officials cannot shirk responsibility by citing insufficient funds.“In the 1950s, a forest ranger would have been denied promotion if his range had serious forest fires. Thermometers were maintained in each ranger's office to keep a watch on the temperature and sound an alert if it reached a certain threshold, above which there was a risk of fire,“ says R S Tolia, former chief secretary of Uttarakhand. “Of course, at that time, the area under a range was much smaller. Today , forest staff is burdened with management of much larger territories and has to deal with increasing political interference. But this is no excuse for lack of accountability on their part,“ he adds. An inquiry has been ordered by the chief secretary on why fire lines were not cleared in time.

Involve locals

Questions are also being asked about why the help of local communities residing near forests was not sought. Forest officials say almost all the fires were ignited by villagers who believe the fresh grass that grows from the ashes is nutritious, providing rich fodder for their cattle. “We chose to ignore their acts because we didn't want to antagonize them,“ says an official. But as fires spiralled out of control, 48 cases were registered in April against those responsible for starting them.

Rather than penalising, says Tolia, villagers should be co-opted into a participatory role. “There are almost 12,000 van panchayats, governing bodies of villagers to manage forests near their village. They can play an active role in fire dousing or curbing illegal activities if coordination is smooth,“ he says.

See also

Forests: India