India reported over 75,000 forest fires in April; Odisha worst hit

A senior FSI official said usual than warmer April and drier winter this year are the reasons for sudden spurt in the forest fires

Updated on: Apr 27, 2024, 17:21:53 IST

By Chetan Chauhan

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Even as Army helicopters have been pressed to douse forest fires in Uttarakhand’s Kumaon region, the Forest Survey of India (FSI) data on forest fires shows Odisha to be the worst hit followed by Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh. Data also shows that the number of forest fires between April 20 and 27 are at least three times higher than that of the same period in 2023.

The FSI data shows that close to 80% of the forest fires in April started after middle of the month. (ANI)

With temperatures rising and negligible rainfall in lower Himalayas and eastern plains, the number of forest fires reported in April, including today, was 75,494 as compared to 58,910 in March 2024 and less than 5,000 this February. In April 2023, the forest fires reported were 68,239.

A senior FSI official said usual than warmer April and drier winter this year are the reasons for sudden spurt in the forest fires. “There is no moisture on ground to control the natural spread of forest fires. The fires are spreading as it is a drought period,” said the official, who was not willing to be quoted.

The FSI data shows that close to 80% of the forest fires in April started after middle of the month, especially in plains of Uttarakhand and from Dhanbad in Jharkhand till Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh in east and Nanded in Maharashtra in west, indicating the spread of dry summer weather.

As per FSI data, total forest fires in India recorded since April 20 was 19,797 of which 1,183 are major fires. The FSI defined major fires as ones which cover a minimum forest area of 300 acres. Some of the fires in Kumaon region including close to Army areas are major fires as per FSI definition.

“If you see India’s map, the plains of Uttarakhand and eastern coastal parts of India seem to be in red due to forest fires,” the official quoted above said, pointing to vagni portal of FSI, which shows forest fires on the country’s map.

Also Read | Army called in as forest fires rage in Uttarakhand; CM Dhami to preside meeting

Among the top five, Uttarakhand is the only north-western Himalayan state to be facing forest fires. There are not many forest fires in Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir, which has witnessed some rain and hail in the past few days. Uttarakhand reported 201 forest fires between April 20 and 27 in 2023 as compared to 3,462 for the same period this year.

The other states in top five --- Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh --- also recorded much more forest fires this year as compared to 2023.

Odisha recorded 4,237 forest fires as compared to 1,499 between April 20 and 27 in 2023. Similarly, Chhattisgarh recorded 757 fires last year as compared to 2,116 this year, Jharkhand 633 as against 1,926 and Andhra Pradesh 527 as compared to 1,126 in 2023.

What is more disheartening is that the data shows higher intensity and spread of forest fires this year, especially in the eastern contiguous area witnessing temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius since mid-April. The impact of forest fire in Uttarakhand seems to be lesser as compared to eastern parts.

The forest officials said that in most cases the forest fire is because of human error. In Uttarakhand alone, police have registered 146 cases of fires due to human negligence for causing major forest fires. In Uttarakhand, the Indian Army was pressed into the service to control forest fire in Kumaon region. Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkhar Singh Dhami also held a review meeting and requested the Army to provide all possible help.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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