JOIN USForest dept gears up to fight fires with Cessna, drones
The Karnataka Forest Department is adding a Cessna C-188 aircraft and drones with thermal sensors to its arsenal to deal with forest fires that are becoming more frequent due to climate change.
The aerial firefighting will complement the upgraded forest fire management system adopted by the department after learning from the 2019 Bandipur forest fires that destroyed about 12,000 acres due to the poor quality of preventive work by officers in charge.
A senior official said the Cessna, which will be hired and stationed in Mysuru as part of a pilot project, has a proven track record in firefighting.
“One third of Karnataka’s forests have been classified as sensitive (fire-prone),” the official said. “We are preparing a five-year action plan under which granular data from division level will be used to identify spots that are prone to repeated fires (“critical areas”).”
The official said the “aircraft will provide a major boost” to fight fires in highly sensitive areas. Officials said that prolonged droughts and changing weather patterns have made the forests vulnerable to fire like never before.
An added worry is the fragmentation of the forests by development activities as well as villages. Statistics show that copious rains in 2018 and 2019 helped in bringing down forest fire incidents in Karnataka for the next two years.
Nevertheless, the number of incidents have remained on the higher side and indicate an upward trend. In the pilot project, estimated to cost Rs 1 crore, the aircraft will be stationed in Mysuru for the fire season between December and March.
In the event of a fire, the aircraft will drop fire retardant and act as a quick response measure to check the spread. Large swathes of deciduous forests in Bandipur, Nagarahole and BR Hills, which include areas which are difficult to access by foot, will benefit from the project, an official said.
In addition, the project includes procuring five drones with thermal sensors which can pick up heat signatures. This will help in monitoring the firefighting exercise at inaccessible areas and also conduct a follow up.
Ground-level solutions
When asked, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests P C Ray confirmed the proposal, but said the project will take off after getting
the approval from the government. “The pilot project is aimed at supporting our ongoing effort to strengthen the existing system,” he said.
While the Forest Survey of India provides regular fire alerts, the time lag of about 1.5 hours between detection and alert had remained an issue.
Officials in the state forest department have improvised the system and come up with a new app that uses data from two satellites to alert a forest fire within 10 minutes.
Watch the latest DH videos: