Number of forest fires drop from 3.45 lakh in 2020 to 2.03 lakh in 2024, loss of wildlife not known

In response to a question in Parliament, govt says India saw lowest number of forest fires between November 2023 & June 2024 in 4 yrs. At 21,033, Uttarakhand recorded the highest number.

A fire in a forest area in Uttarakhand in 2021 | Photo: ANI

AKANKSHA MISHRA, The Print, 30 July, 2024, New Delhi: Over the past four years, the total number of forest fires detected by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) during the seasonal fire season has steadily declined. In a response in the Lok Sabha Monday, the ministry of environment, forest, and climate change (MoEFCC) said that between November 2023 and June 2024, the country saw 2,03,544 forest fires, which is the lowest in the last four years.

This statement was in response to a question by Congress MP Adoor Prakash, who asked about the total number of fires recorded by the government and the resulting loss of forests and wildlife.

Data published by the MoEFCC for the last four forest fire seasons showed a steady decline from 3,45,989 fires in the 2020-21 season to 2,03,544 forest fires this year.

However, the MoEFCC said that they have made “no estimation of the loss of forest or wildlife due to forest fires in the country.”

Forest fires in India are detected using satellite-based sensors called the SNPP-VIIRS (Suomi-National Polar-orbiting Partnership – Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite). Along with that, the FSI also has a monitoring and alert system in place that sends SMSes and emails to registered users in the event of a fire.

The India State of Forest Report 2019 says that more than 36 percent of India’s total forest cover is prone to ‘frequent forest fires’, with 4 percent being ‘extremely prone’ to forest fires.

The ministry released information on forest fire detection across all states in the country, showing that Uttarakhand had the highest number of forest fires this year at 21,033. This is followed by Odisha, which had a total of 20,973 forest fires this year. The other end of the list was Puducherry and Lakshadweep with zero forest fires and Chandigarh with one.

Measures to mitigate forest fires

The statement by the MoEFCC said that the National Disaster Management Authority had trained three National Disaster Relief Force battalions specifically to deal with forest fires. These 150 personnel are spread across three main locations — Dehradun, Guwahati and Vijayawada — and are sent to tackle forest fires when necessary.

The Centre also has a National Action Plan on Forest Fires shared with all states, as well as a 24×7 disaster management control room run by the MoEFCC to help prevent and manage forest fires across the country. According to the ministry’s statement, most forest fires in India are ground fires and effect ground vegetation.

A report by the Forest Research Institute of India in 2018 said that globally, “forest fires have been recognisd as major drivers of degradation of forests.” It also said that in India, the extent of damage done by forest fires is ‘widely disputed’, however, there are certain clusters that have been identified to be prone to forest fires. These include the Himalayan forests of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Teak and Sal forests in central India, and forests in the Northeast because of the practice of slash-and-burn agriculture.

The MoEFCC statement, though, did not elaborate on any documented forest loss or damage due to forest fires in the country, apart from how the number of forest fires in a country depends on “vulnerability of forests to various forest fire risk factors.”