Why is the current situation worrisome?

• Every year forest fires begin in Uttarakhand in mid-February, which is the onset of spring when the trees shed dry leaves and the soil loses moisture due to a rise in temperature. This ‘forest fire season’ continues usually till mid-June in the summer. In hilly areas, the surface gets drier faster than plains due to lower accumulation of rainwater.
• According to experts, three factors cause spread of forest fire — fuel load, oxygen and temperature. Dry leaves are fuel for forest fires and its quantity this time is more than past years.

• According to an official, due to lockdown there was very less human movement and field activity in the forest fire season like every year when inflammable leaves and woods are collected in forest areas near human habitats. Dry leaves shed from trees in spring remained at the ground and the fuel load increased due to the same natural phenomenon in the year.
• Following less rain in monsoon and almost nil rain in winters dried the soil and earth surface lost the moisture early this time. Atmospheric temperature in March and April is also soaring in comparison to previous year. Strong wind velocity is spreading fire very fast in jungles. Among these factors, the forest department can control only fuel load by controlled burning.
• Officials admit that the situation is alarming because the peak time for forest fire — the third week of May when temperature is highest – is yet to come.
• This year, however, forest fires have started from April first week. More than 1100 incidents of forest fire have so far occurred in the current fire season, which started in October, 2020. with almost 50 per cent in March and April first week only.
• Forests play an important role in mitigation and adaptation to climate change. They act as a sink, reservoir and source of carbon. A healthy forest stores and sequesters more carbon than any other terrestrial ecosystem. In India, with 1.70 lakh villages in close proximity to forests (Census 2011), the livelihood of several crores of people is dependent on fuelwood, bamboo, fodder, and small timber.
• Forest fires can have multiple adverse effects on the forest cover, soil, tree growth, vegetation, and the overall flora and fauna. Fires render several hectares of forest useless and leave behind ash, making it unfit for any vegetation growth.
• Heat generated during the fire destroys animal habitats. Soil quality decreases with the alteration in their compositions. Soil moisture and fertility, too, is affected. Thus forests can shrink in size. The trees that survive fire often remain stunted and growth is severely affected.

When Uttarakhand witnessed these types of fires previously?
Uttarakhand had witnessed its worst wildfire in 2016 when over 4433 hectares was gutted in 2074 incidents of forest fires. Six people had died while four had sustained severe injuries. At the time, forest fires had remained unnoticed for several days following a political crisis in the state that had led to the imposition of the President’s rule. According to an official, forest fires were reported from 1200 places on a single day, April 26, that year. In the emergency situation that had ensued, the option of cloud seeding was unsuccessfully explored/ Then, helicopters were used for the first in the state to douse fire. While the temperature was very high at that time, the fuel load was very less and wind velocity was weak. Considering these last two factors, experts say 2021 may witness wildfire worse than 2016 and natural rain is the last hope.

Where mostly these fires are seen?

• Seven districts in the state — Pauri Garhwal, Tehri Garhwal, Dehradun, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Nainital and Almora — are most vulnerable to forest fires. Over 12,000 forest personnel have been deployed in fire-fighting operations across the state. Uttarakhand has around 38,000 square km of forests, which is almost 71 per cent of its geographical area. Since its formation as a separate state in the year 2000, forest fires have affected over 48,000 hectares.
• Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh are the two states that witness the most frequent forest fires annually. In Uttarkhand, 24,303 sq km (over 45 per cent of the geographical area) is under forest cover.
• The FSI has identified forests along the south, west and southwest regions of Uttarakhand — comprising Dehradun, Hardwar, Garhwal, Almora, Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar, Champawat districts — as being prone to varying intensities of forest fires.
• The locality of the forest and access to it pose hurdles in initiating firefighting efforts. During peak season, shortage of staff is another challenge in dispatching firefighting teams.
• Timely mobilisation of forest staff, fuel and equipment, depending on the type of fire, through the thick forests remain challenges.
• As it is impossible to transport heavy vehicles loaded with water into the thick forests, a majority of fire dousing is initiated manually, using blowers and similar devices. But there have been incidents when forest fires were brought under control using helicopter services.
• Wind speed and direction play a critical role in bringing a forest fire under control. The fire often spreads in the direction of the winds and towards higher elevations.

Who published the “Strengthening Forest Fire Management in India” report?
A joint study report of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF&CC) and World Bank titled “Strengthening Forest Fire Management in India” released in June 2018 revealed that in the year 2000, 20 districts, representing 3% of India’s land area and 16% of forest cover accounted for 44% of all fire detections. The report discusses policies on forest fire prevention and management (FFPM) at the national, state and local levels, underscoring the need for a comprehensive national policy and guidelines. It provides recommendations on five broad themes – policy, institutions and capacity, community engagement, technology, and data and information and looks at national and international best practices in FFPM.

How these fires can be stopped?

• Van Panchayats should be given rights and incentives for protecting the forests. Provisions of the Forest Act of 1988 dissociates the local community with the forests and, in the absence of a sense of belonging, local community villagers do not initiate dousing fires on their own. Waterholes should be developed across the mountains to recharge groundwater and maintain moisture in the soil.
• A forest official said awareness is the only solution and there should be programmes to motivate local people to protect forests from fire because they act as first responder whereas the forest department has limited staff. The official added that reporting and fire management is better in reserve forest areas but facilities and manpower lack in civil areas.
• Since 2004, the FSI developed the Forest Fire Alert System to monitor forest fires in real time. In its advanced version launched in January 2019, the system now uses satellite information gathered from NASA and ISRO.
• Real-time fire information from identified fire hotspots is gathered using MODIS sensors (1km by 1km grid) and electronically transmitted to FSI. This information is then relayed via email at state, district, circle, division, range, beat levels. Users of this system in the locality are issued SMS alerts. The FSI system in January 2019 had over 66,000 users.

The Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme (FPM) is the only centrally funded program specifically dedicated to assist the states in dealing with forest fires.

• The FPM replaced the Intensification of Forest Management Scheme (IFMS) in 2017.
• Funds allocated under the FPM are according to a center-state cost-sharing formula, with a 90:10 ratio of central to state funding in the Northeast and Western Himalayan regions and a 60:40 ratio for all other states.
• It also provides the states the flexibility to direct a portion of the National Afforestation Programme (NAP) and Mission for Green India (GIM) funding toward forest fire work.