With 7,042 cases, Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra reported the highest number of forest fire incidents in the country. The fire incidents were detected with the help of the SNPP-VIIRS system by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) between November 2023 to June 2024. Meanwhile, with 16,008 similar occurrences reported between November 2023 and June 2024, Maharashtra ranks fifth among the states with the highest number of forest fire incidents reported.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MOEFCC) recently published a report titled ‘India State of Forest Report 2023’ (ISFR 2023) on Saturday, December 21, which provided detailed information about the forest fire incidents detected in the country.
According to the report’s statistics, the number of fire hotspots detected by the SNPP-VIIRS sensor during the 2023-24 season was 2,03,544, compared to 2,23,333 in the 2021-22 season and 2,12,249 in the 2022-23 season. The top three states with the most fire incidents in the 2023-24 season were Uttarakhand, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh.
In this report, the ministry also shared details of the burnt area assessment, which was carried out to assess forest areas affected by forest fires and damage to forest and biodiversity. Remote sensing and GIS techniques are being actively used for real-time forest fire monitoring and damage assessment.
Multi-temporal satellite data plays an important role in the identification of the changes in forests. As per the data, Maharashtra reported the second-highest burnt area in the country at 4095 km2. The highest burnt area was reported in Andhra Pradesh as 5286.76 km2. Between November 2023 and June 2024.
{{/usCountry}}Multi-temporal satellite data plays an important role in the identification of the changes in forests. As per the data, Maharashtra reported the second-highest burnt area in the country at 4095 km2. The highest burnt area was reported in Andhra Pradesh as 5286.76 km2. Between November 2023 and June 2024.
{{/usCountry}}This assessment showed that nearly 93% of the fires observed are surface fires and are classified as low-burnt areas. The ministry is likely to publish a detailed State/UT-wise analysis of burnt areas and their severity classes, fuel load estimates, and fire risk zones in a separate report.
Forest fire alerts have become one of the most important activities of FSI. Pre-fire alerts, near real-time alerts, have been sent for several years. Since 2004, the Forest Survey of India (FSI) has been alerting the State Forest Departments and other agencies regarding forest fire detections using remote sensing and the latest information technology. In Maharashtra, 9,671 people who have subscribed to the fire alert message service received the alert warning between November 2023 and June 2024.
Stating the significance of this report Anoop Singh, director general, FSI, said, “In the report on forest fire, we have given information on forest fires in 705 protected areas for the first time. Similarly, burnt area assessment has been done for the first time at the national level and can support course correction for the policymakers.”