Over 30 per cent Indian districts vulnerable to extreme forest fires: study

New Delhi, Apr 7 (PTI) More than 30 per cent of Indian districts are vulnerable to extreme forest fires, said a study released on Thursday, warning such wildfires have risen by over 10 times in the last two decades.

The study conducted by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), highlighted that in the last month alone, significant forest fires were reported in states like Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The CEEW study also found that Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra are the most prone to high-intensity forest fire events caused by rapid change in the climate.

"As global temperatures rise, instances of high-intensity forest fires have surged across the globe, especially in areas with dry weather. Over the last decade, there has been a sharp rise in forest fires across the country. Some of these fires have had severe impacts on fragile ecosystems and local economies.

"We need to strengthen our predictive and forest fire alert systems further to limit the damage caused by forest fires. State and district-level government officials must also prioritise enhancing the capacity of frontline forest officials and forest-dependent communities to prevent forest fires. Scaling up training on creating effective forest fire lines and using drones, especially in known forest fire hotspots, could significantly reduce loss and damage" said Arunabha Ghosh, CEO, CEEW.

The study also found that over the last two decades, more than 89 per cent of total forest fire incidents have been recorded in districts that are traditionally drought-prone or have been witnessing weather swapping trends i.e., flood-prone areas turning drought-prone and vice-versa.

Kandhamal (Odisha), Sheopur (Madhya Pradesh), Udham Singh Nagar (Uttarakhand), and East Godavari (Andhra Pradesh) are some of the forest fire hotspot districts that are also showing a swapping trend from flood to drought.

"Sharp increase in forest fires over the last two decades calls for a significant course correction in our approach to managing forest fires. The recent incident at Sariska forest reserve, the fourth such incident in a week, shows why managing forest fires in a changing climate scenario is a national imperative.

"Going forward, we should recognise forest fires as a natural hazard and earmark more funds for mitigation-related activities. Restoration of forest lands and efficient mitigation of forest fires could also help protect the food systems and livelihoods of communities traditionally dependant on forests,” said Abinash Mohanty, Programme Lead, CEEW.

The study said that local air quality could deteriorate significantly during a forest fire and called for the state governments or state forest departments to re-purpose public buildings like government schools and community halls by fitting them with air filters to create clean air shelters for communities worst impacted by fires and smoke from forest fires.

It also recommended that forest fires should be recognised as a disaster under the National Disaster Management Act (NDMA).

"This could help strengthen the National Plan on Forest Fires through improvement in financial allocation under the NDMA and creation of a specialised cadre trained to contain and combat forest fires. Policymakers should also consider developing a real-time alerts system only for forest fire incidents," the study said. PTI AG RCJ