Like in the past years, forest fires are ravaging the forests of India this year as well; the situation is extremely grim in Uttarakhand, where thousands of hectares of forests are burning even as you read this. What makes it worse are the incidents coming to light of how some insane (there is no other word for it, frankly) and anti-social elements have been indulging in making social media reels of the same and watching the burning forests with visible delight. This is coupled with villagers burning crop stubble and setting fires to the forest grounds so that fresh grass grows for their cattle.
A few such hoodlums were arrested in Uttarakhand. It is well known to the common people as well as the government that forest fires in India occur between November and June, and adequate preparedness should be ensured to prevent and quickly control them.
The control of forest fires is proving to be the Achilles heel for the forest department as well as the government. The officials may want to evade responsibility by blaming the dry climate and shift the blame to anti-social elements, but the fact remains that it is a sure case of unpreparedness and unpardonable negligence by the entire governing system in Uttarakhand and all over India, when it comes to managing the forest fires.
The Forest Survey of India (FSI) in the State of Forest Report 2021 (SFR 2021), which was released in 2022, stated that 345,989 cases of forest fires have occurred in 2021 – the highest in the country so far. Compared to 2019, almost one lakh more instances of forest fires were noticed in 2021. This report should have alerted the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) as well as the state governments all over the country.
We must understand that our forest resources are critical resources in terms of richness of biodiversity and their importance in sustaining life systems of humans as well as the wildlife that vanish with no requiem in official statistics, but with disastrous consequences on the ecology, water streams and the economy.
What is the solution? What are the solutions? Let us discuss some of them here.
I dealt with forest fires in MoEFCC for seven years – 1997 to 2002 – and had devised a firefighting strategy for the country; I had also calculated the loss these fires cost the country on an annual basis. I attended an international seminar organized by the Indonesian government at Bagor in the aftermath of devastating fires witnessed by the country in the coal-bearing forests in 1999. It became clear in the meeting that fires are better prevented rather than waiting to control them, because once these fires become an inferno, they become impossible to put down. A new guideline in MoEFCC was issued in 2001, and the plan to use planes and helicopters to fight forest fires was dropped because unlike countries such as Australia, Canada, and the US, we do not have long stretches of forests where aerial foam can be used to douse out fires; here we still need solid ground equipment.
The first decision taken was to assign funds to FSI to use satellites and convey to the forest departments within minutes of detecting forest fires. The practice continues as FSI immediately conveys about fire incidents to the territorial staff. Each forest division must maintain, repair, and clear forest fire lines before November, and remove fuel load from fire lines as well as the adjoining forests.
Before November, each range and forest division must have a fire prevention plan in place indicating the vulnerable compartments and areas, prepare risk assessment, and install early warning systems and put them into practice, such as stationing the equipment, water backpacks, and so on.
Next, areas near habitations had to be mapped for risk management. Special funds were earmarked for joint forest management/ van panchayats, for engaging villagers and for extending help during the fire season. The states were directed to invoke section 79 of the Indian forest Act, under which villagers and government servants are duty bound to inform and help in the suppression of forest fires, and for each identified area team must be kept ready. The ministry must reinvent and reassert these guidelines every year.
Now it is for the states to find out where they go amiss and feel helpless when fires occur. If state administration and forest officers follow a strictly planned and supervised regimen of fire prevention and disaster control with sufficient equipment, manpower, funds, and constant monitoring, forest fires can be prevented and curtailed. Management of fuel load and human interference is a key factor, and supervision and mock drills before and during fire season with full involvement of panchayats and local people is necessary for zero tolerance for fire incidents. A scrutiny of standard operating procedures is essential and the chief minister of each state must act; it seems only political intervention can cajole the system to work.
The prime minister and the environment minister must pull up the bureaucracy and take drastic steps to not only prevent forest fires, but also tackle the increasing instances of landslides and other natural disasters in the country, with special focus on hill states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
Mercifully, I must commend Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami who took charge of the situation and forced the state officials to rise from their slumber. The results are visible at the ground level, although a lot of damage was already done. All political parties should cooperate in educating people about the perils of forest fires. The negligence of foresters is clear since the past few years, when a large number of religious structures were made in thousands under the very nose of forest guards and rangers in Uttarakhand, and thousands of hectares of forest land was encroached.
It was only after this writer repeatedly raised the matter with the PMO that the chief minister took initiative to demolish a few hundreds of such encroachments but no action has been taken against the field staff or officers in charge of ranges and divisions. Accountability, responsibility and good governance is the responsibility of all in the system as well as of the people of Uttarakhand.
The author is former Director-General of Indian Council of Forestry Research.
This article was originally published in The Tribune on May 13, 2024.
