Forest fires resurface in the hills amid dry spell, soaring mercury

The raging forest fires have returned to the north-western Himalayas over the last few days, with Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) topping the chart of state-wise wildlife fires in the country, as the blistering summer backed by an intense dry spell pushed the mercury beyond 40 degrees Celsius in several places in the hills.

In the last seven days, Himachal Pradesh has reported 1,343 forest fires, followed by 540 in Uttarakhand and 452 in J&K, according to Forest Survey of India (FSI) data. Fourth on the list was Odisha with 314 forest fires in a week.

Himachal forest department officials pointed out that in the past week, nearly 100 forest fires have been reported in and around the state capital Shimla — a popular summer getaway for tourists from across the country, especially north and north-western regions — posing a significant threat to both wildlife and human habitation. On Tuesday, Shimla recorded the season’s highest maximum temperature at 31.7°C.

A major fire has been raging in Tara Devi forests in Shimla for the last three days. “We were able to control the fire in the upper parts of the forest as our staff is still struggling to reach there as area is not inaccessible by road,” Aneesh Sharma, divisional forest officer (DFO), Shimla, said.

Read Here: Major fire in Udhampur forests, locals urge administration to deploy IAF choppers

A massive blaze had erupted in Tutikandi area on Tuesday, endangering a girls’ orphanage, Balika Ashram, as well as a wildlife rescue centre. Firemen and forest staff struggled for over four hours to control the fire. “Fire around the Balika ashram was doused with a collective effort of forest and fire department,” Sharma said. Forest fires have also been reported from Panthaghatti, Sankat Mochan temple and Bharari areas.

In Uttarakhand, forest fires returned to haunt several parts in both Kumaon and Gharwal regions, having already caused a havoc in the past two months. However, the intensity of wildfire over the past few days has been much moderate as compared to April, when a total of 3,462 forest fires were reported in one week between April 20 and 27. Overall, the hill state has witnessed 540 forest fires in the past one week.

“There are no major forest fires. We are keeping a close watch,” Nishant Verma, additional principal chief conservator of forests and state’s nodal officer for forest fires, said.

Overall, the state has reported over two-fold jump in forest fires so far this year as compared to 2023. From January 1 till Wednesday, Uttarakhand has reported 1,156 forest fires as compared to 484 in the corresponding period last year.

Read Here: Forgotten fires claim 627 hectares of forest land in Himachal

Over 1,586 hectares of forest land has been damaged I Uttarakhand this year as compared to 576 hectares in the same period last year, according to forest department data.

With the Himalayan state reeling under a heat wave since Wednesday, India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday issued an advisory for authorities to keep a close watch on fire and forest fire incidents, stating that conditions were conducive for initiation or spread of wildfires at isolated places in Tehri, Pauri, Dehradun and Nainital districts over the next 24 hours.

Some respite from sweltering weather is predicted from June 1-2, as IMD Dehradun Centre has issued forecast of intense spells of rain at isolated places in the state.

In Jammu, soaring temperatures have sparked a series of forest fires in Chingus block and in the Nowshera sub-division of Rajouri district in the Union territory. These fires, which began on Wednesday, disrupted normal life, covering the region in thick smoke and causing widespread distress among the local population.

Opinion: Mending the forests, putting out the fires

Md Mustafa Charrakk, block officer of Chingus forest department, said the fires were being controlled. “It is a tough task to control these forest fires, especially amid soaring temperature. As soon as we get information of the fire, we visit the area and try to bring it under control,” he added.

Besides soaring mercury, experts have attributed increasing forest blaze to climate crisis as well as human activities.

“Uttarakhand stands out as one of the most affected states, despite advancements in satellite-based technologies…We need to go back to the drawing board and revisit traditional practices through which forest fires were managed in the past, and learn from the mistakes of countries such US which suffered on the account of suppressing forest fires leading to catastrophic fire events,” Vishal Singh, executive director, Centre for Ecology Development and Research (CEDAR) Dehradun, said.

“We also need to bring in subject matter experts, community leaders, forest managers, and ground-level staff to share knowledge and jointly develop strategies for ecologically sensible and inclusive decision-making about forest fires,” Singh added.

(With agency inputs)