What stops us from controlling forest fires?

The forests of Karnataka witness the highest number of forest fires from mid-February to the end of May.

Foresters, both serving and those retired, say most of the forest fire incidents are intentional or motivated by revenge.

Senior Forest Department officials say that Karnataka has taken several steps to address forest fire incidents, including use of data received from satellites and putting extra boots on the ground. However, forest fire continues to be a regular phenomenon especially in the deciduous forests of Bandipur and Nagarhole, which has the second highest concentration of tigers in India.

According to Punati Sridhar, former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, miscreants know when and where to set fire to cause maximum damage to the forest. He added that they use the ‘time bomb’ method of placing an agarbatti stick in dried elephant dung inside deep forest to cause large-scale damage. What makes matters worse is that fire is set in areas that are difficult to access.

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Some set fire for better regeneration of green grass for their cattle.

Porous forest boundaries and staff shortage are two other constraints that make forest fire management a tough task.

A senior forest officer blamed the successive governments for shortage of staff in the department. “Recruitment of watchers and guards does not take place on time. There have been instances where prospective watchers and guards have set fire to forest so that recruitment process takes places faster,” he said. He added that the forest department also finds it difficult to hire locals for the watchers and guards as the contract work is just for three months during fire season.

The department is supposed to mandatorily hire at least 75% of the staff from local communities.

Another former Principal Chief Conservator of Forest B K Singh says the laxity of local forest officers delays creating fire lines inside the forest.

As per the rules, by the end of December all the fire lines should be prepared and the Deputy Conservator of Forests has to deploy the required number of guards and watchers on the ground.

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However, in a few places the fire lines are not created till the end of February. This can result in forest fire spreading from one patch to another. With the lack of monitoring mechanism in place, local forest officers ensure that fire lines are created on paper and not on the ground. In some cases, the lack of labourers and funds not being released on time delays the creation of this protection line.

Using technology

Beginning from 2018, the Karnataka Forest Department is among the first agencies in the country to use satellite data to prevent/ detect forest fires.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (HOFF) Sanjay Mohan says the department has an advanced system that sends out an SMS alert to every forest guard/ watcher and senior officers regarding the forest fire in their particular beat. “Through the satellite mapping we get pin point accuracy of the location where forest fire is being reported. The officials also get details of wind speed, humidity, nearest GI location, water bodies and other details that can help us address the fire immediately.”

Sources in the forest IT cell said the department is also using technology to create a database of most vulnerable locations of forest fire, areas with history of fire incidents and a 24X7 helpline to mobilise resources. They say that after the 2018 Bandipur forest fire, which engulfed thousands acres of pristine forest area, the state has averted such large forest fires using technology.

Mahesh Kumar, Director, Nagarhole National Park, says the department is working with the locals to prevent forest fires.

“Through Eco-Development Committees, which consist of locals, gram and zilla panchayat members and others, we are creating awareness among people regarding the importance of forest for their well-being. However, achieving success has been a bit slow in this regard. We are looking at engaging the youths in non-forest work also so that their dependency becomes lesser and minimise their venture into forest.”

However, there are other reasons for large scale forest fires in Karnataka. Native plants and trees are comparatively more fire resistant. The extensive growth of weeds, which are highly combustible and have taken over large areas inside forest results in large scale disaster. Earlier, tribal people used to take up controlled burning of these weeds. However, with the forest department not allowing them to do it now, weeds have taken over major parts of forest.