Forest Fires in India: Statistics, Causes, Impact, Initiatives, and Way Forward

This Article is based on the news “Heat, aridity, clear skies: why forests are already ablaze in the Nilgiris” which was published in the Indian Express. Forest fires have been raging in the Coonoor forest range in the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu for almost a week.

Nilgiris Forest Fire: Key Highlights

• Bambi Bucket Operations: The Indian Air Force deployed a Mi-17 V5 helicopter to conduct multiple “ Bambi Bucket operations” that dumped some 16,000 litres of water on the fires.
  • The Bambi Bucket, also called a helicopter bucket or a helibucket , is a specialised container that is suspended by cable under a chopper, and which can be filled by lowering into a river or pond before being flown above a fire and discharged aerially by opening a valve at the bottom of the bucket.

  What is Forest Fire?

  • Wildfire, also called forest, bush or vegetation fire, can be described as any uncontrolled and non-prescribed combustion or burning of plants in a natural setting such as a forest, grassland, brushland or tundra.

  Forest Fires in India: Statistics

  

  • Forest Fires in India: According to the biennial India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2019 published by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), more than 3 6% ofIndia’s forest coverwas prone to frequent fires.
    • About 4% of the forest cover was ‘extremely prone’ to fire , and another 6% was ‘very highly’ fire prone.
  • Vulnerable States: The eleven main states with frequent occurrence of forest fires in recent times are:
    • Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telengana Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
  • Forest Fire Vulnerability Across Ecosystems: According to the FSI, severe fires break out in dry deciduous forests, while evergreen, semi-evergreen, and montane temperate forests are comparatively less prone to fires.
    • The forests of Northeast India, Odisha, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Uttarakhand are the most vulnerable to fires during the November to June period.
  • Triggering Factors:
    • Human activities trigger 95% of forest fires in India, such as burning agricultural practices, deforestation, firewood burning etc.
    • Drought and higher temperatures further aggravate the risk of forest fire.
  • Forest Fire Season in India: November to June is considered to be forest fire season in India especially from February onward as summer approaches.
    • April-May are usually the worst fire months across the country.
  • Forest Fire Situation in 2024: During Ma rch 2024, the highest number of forest fires were reported from Mizoram (3,738), Manipur (1,702), Assam (1,652), Meghalaya (1,252), and Maharashtra (1,215) , as per FSI data.

  Causes of Forest Fires in India

  Causes of Forest Fires in India are as follows;

  Natural Causes:

  • Lightning: Lightning-caused forest fires are caused by thunderstorms where the lightning strikes combustible materials on the ground under conditions that support combustion.
  • Volcanic Eruption: Hot magma from the earth’s crust is expelled as lava during a volcanic eruption, causing it to flow down mountainsides and spread out over the forest floor, starting fires.
  • High Temperatures: Hot and dry temperatures and high tree density help the spread of forest fires.

  Anthropogenic Causes:

  • • Fire is caused when a source of fire like naked flame, cigarette or bidi, electric spark or any source of ignition comes into contact with inflammable material.

    What Are Reasons For Forest Fires in India This Year?

    • Rise in Mean Temperatures: Over the past two months, the recorded maximum, minimum, and mean temperatures have remained above-normal over the southern states, which has helped build the heat load over the region well before the onset of the summer season.
      • Maximum temperatures here touched 40 degrees Celsius which is unusual for mid March.
      • EHF predicts the chances of a heatwave over a region.

      Classification of Forest Fires

      • Surface Fire: A forest fire may burn primarily as a surface fire advancing across the forest floor as the flames spread through the surface litter and vegetation.
      • Underground Fire: The fires of low intensity, consuming the organic matter beneath and the surface litter of forest floor are sub-grouped as underground fire.
        • These fires usually spread entirely underground and burn for some meters below the surface.
        • This fire burns root and other material on or beneath the surface i.e. burns the herbaceous growth on forest floor together with the layer of organic matter in various stages of decay.
        • They are more damaging than surface fires, as they can destroy vegetation completely.
        • On hill slopes, if the fire starts downhill, it spreads up fast as heated air adjacent to a slope tends to flow up the slope spreading flames along with it. If the fire starts uphill, there is less likelihood of it spreading downwards.

        Impact of Forest Fires

        

        • Biodiversity Loss: Forest fires have adverse effects on the forest cover, 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.
          • Nitrogen reserves of the soil are depleted.
          • Fire also d estroys humus and soil micro-flora , which in turn affects the forest growth.
          • In North-Eastern India, the shortening of fire-associated jhum cycles has also had a detrimental effect on soil fertility.
          • Shorter jhum cycles reduce fallow biomass available for burning and givessoil fertilityless time to recover, resulting in lower economic yields and efficiency.
          • Jhum Cultivation is a traditional agricultural practice whereby land is cleared by burning the vegetation, is cultivated for several years, and then is abandoned in favour of another site when the productivity of the soil declines.
          • Forest fragmentation, coupled with fires-have resulted in degradation of ecosystems, making them more vulnerable to invasion by alien species. Ex- Lantana camara fuels further fires.
          • Forest clearing and persistent changes in vegetation composition and structure after a fire may result in net emissions.

          Initiatives Taken to Prevent Forest Fires in India

          • National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) 2019: Under the revised NDMP 2019, Forest Fire has been included and addressed as a hazard , with specific time bound action plans, and clear roles & responsibilities of Central, State agencies and key stakeholders.
          • Forest Fire Alert System: 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 .
            • Risk reduction and mitigation
            • Identification of highly fire prone areas
            • Resource allocation and mobilization

            Measures Suggested by NAPFF

            1. Fire Risk Zonation and mapping
               • Risk factors
               • Use of fire risk zones in forest planning
            2. Preventing forest fires:
               • Effective communication strategy
               • Empowering Communities to deliver on their responsibilities
               • Capacity building of communities
            3. Increasing the resilience of forests to fires
               • Moisture and water conservation
               • Forest floor biomass management
               • Weed Management
            4. Forest Fire Preparedness
               • Forest fire detection and alert
               • Digitize the location of critical resources and assets
               • Forest Fire Lines
               • Control Burning
            5. Fire Suppression
               • Training for field staff, fire watchers, and community firefighters
               • Equipping the firefighters
               • Development of adequate infrastructure for fire suppression
               • Arrangements for adequate manpower
            6. Post Fire management
               • Assessment of loss due to forest fires
               • Proper investigation of the causes
               • Restoration of fire affected areas
            7. Coordination with Other Agencies
            8. Centre of Excellence for Forest Fires

            Institutional Set up for Forest Fire Management in India

            • At present, the Forest Protection Division, headed by Inspector General (IG) level officer looks after the forest fire management work at National level with the cooperation of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Disaster Management (NDM) Division of Government of India, National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), International organisations, Forest Survey of India (FSI), Forest Research Institute (FRI) and other regional offices of MoEF in the country.

            Best Practices:

            • Australia’s Bushfire Safety System: It encourages people to use an exclusive App in Victoria region, which provides timely information about the fire risks and helps the stakeholders in decision making.
            • Indonesia’s Fire Free Village Program: It inspires local communities, NGOs and other stakeholders to address causes of fires.

            Way Forward

            • Forest Fire line: It includes preventing fire through removal of forest litter all along the forest boundary known as “Forest Fire Line” .
              • This line prevents fire breaking into the forest from one compartment to another. The collected litter was burnt in isolation.
              • The best way to control a forest fire is therefore, to prevent it from spreading, which can be done by creating firebreaks in the shape of small clearings of ditches in the forests.
              • Such a network must be tuned to the felt need of all stakeholders, including forest fire managers, policy makers and planners, decision makers, community etc.
              • There is an urgent need for enhancing the capacity of forest guards at the best levels in terms of training, workforce, equipment etc. to enable them to effectively deal with forest fires.
              • Meteorological Departments and other national and international sources providing weather related information may be collaborated to get prior information about the temperature and rainfall situation which are the main deciding factors for forest fires.

              At the national level, which ministry is the nodal agency to ensure effective implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006?

              (a) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

              (b) Ministry of Panchayati Raj

              (c) Ministry of Rural Development

              (d) Ministry of Tribal Affairs

              Mains Question: Forest resources in India are greatly substantial and impactful for achieving SDGs 2030. Comment on the context in the light of accompanied challenges and measures to resolve them . (10 Marks, 150 words)

              Must Read
              NCERT Notes For UPSC	UPSC Daily Current Affairs
              UPSC Blogs	UPSC Daily Editorials
              Daily Current Affairs Quiz	Daily Main Answer Writing
              UPSC Mains Previous Year Papers	UPSC Test Series 2024