One of the most unusual occurrences of this decade, according to experts, is raging forest fires in Uttarakhand in the month of October. The state witnesses such blaze from February 15 to June 15 annually. Till the time of filing this report, a total of 140 hectares of forest land was gutted.
Diwali holidays of the frontline forest force have been cancelled. A team of around 500 forest workers and over 250 villagers have been deployed to control the wildfires. This week is crucial as bursting of firecrackers during Diwali increases the risk of forest fires.
The maximum forest area that was damaged is in Pauri (56.6 hectares in 33 wildfire incidents), Bageshwar (21.35 hectares in 15 incidents), Dehradun (20 hectares in 10 incidents), Uttarkashi (16.85 hectares in 23 incidents), Almora (9.25 hectares in 8 incidents) and Rudraprayag (7 hectares in 4 incidents).
According to the Met department, the south-west monsoon had ended with a rain deficiency of 21% — the first month of the post-monsoon season — which led to a 99% rain deficit in Uttarakhand. The state received 0.1mm rainfall between October 1 and October 31 against a normal of 33.6 mm. Barring Pithoragarh and Chamoli, all the 11 districts of the state received “zero rainfall”.
The forest officials have attributed “dry conditions” of the forest floor to be the reason behind these incidents. “We have the majority of fires in Garhwal region’s Pauri (33), Uttarkashi (23) and Dehradun (10) districts, followed by Kumaon region’s Bageshwar (12). The reason being Garhwal is laced with chir pine trees, and the scanty rains in August and September had left the forest floor full of pine sans any moisture. Therefore, the smallest spark is turning into a forest fire. We have never witnessed forest fires in Uttarakhand in October,” said Man Singh, chief conservator of forests (forest fires). One of the forest frontline workers has suffered injury while dousing flames in Uttarkashi on November 7, he added.
The forest department has already pegged losses to the tune of Rs 3.54 lakh so far.
The forest authorities are stating that the spurt in fire incidents is due to the large number of entry of villagers into the forests post-lockdown. “The task of collecting fuelwood and other forest resources was earlier done during summers, but this year owing to Covid-induced lockdown, nobody was allowed inside the forests. After a short span of monsoon, now the villagers are entering into the forests,” added Singh.
Experts, however, have a different take on this.
Dr Amit Verma, a senior scientist at FRI who is studying the forest fire patterns in India, said, “The intense sunlight and lack of moisture in the forest floor is indicative of climate change. The forest department will have to formulate an all new strategy to combat the wildfires. The entire fire season cycle is witnessing change, not just in Uttarakhand or India but, across the globe. Places like Australia and California are witnessing fires in non-fire seasons there. In the coming days, India would have to make a dynamic forest fire season, rather than the static one — from February to June — that we have.”