Increasing Forest Fires In Himachal Damage Environment

By: Mar 2nd, 2018 12:36 am

Y.S. Rana

The writer is a Hamirpur based Himachali settled in Chandigarh

Recognising the threat of forest fires, the government has published comprehensive data on forest fires for the first time in its State of Forest Report 2017. The forest fires not only affected the environment but are also a drain on the financial front. According to estimate, India loses about Rs 550 crore every year because of damages from forest fires. Between 2003 and 2016, the forest fires have recorded almost 38% increase from 24,450 to 33,664 incidents. North eastern states have reported a greater number of forest fires than any other region. The higher numbers are linked to ‘jhum cultivation’, also called ‘slash and burn’ agriculture. “The government will use certain strategies to wean away locals from jhum cultivation,” CK Mishra, secretary of Environment Ministry, said. Based on satellite data, Himachal Pradesh has 15,100 square kilometres of forest area which is 27.12% of its geographical area. In terms of canopy density, the state has 3110 square kilometres under very dense forest; 6705 sq. kms under moderately dense forest and 5282 square kilometres under open forest area. According to the data of the state forest department, there were over 1500 forest fire incidents in the state during 2016-17 which have affected approximately 13,061 hectare of forest land. With an increase of 0.71% in forest cover compared to national percentage of 0.94%, state is eighth amongst the states and UTs in the country to record rise in forest area.

Threat To Greenhouse Gas Emission Targets

Forest fires also release large amount of carbon dioxide, threatening India’s greenhouse gas emission targets. The total Carbon stock of forests in Himachal Pradesh is 175,782 million tones (644,534 million tones of CO2 equivalent which is 2.48% of total forest Carbon of the country. The report also states that the state has also recorded an increase of 53 square kms in the water body coverage within forests as compared to 2005. To contain forest fires, it is suggested that the quality of forests should improve for it to store more carbon. At the rate at which we are doing it now, we will not be able to meet the Paris goals. “Climate change has some relation to forest fires. The drier the forest is, the more prone it is to fires,” Das said.

Population, Livestock Pressure

India ranks among the top ten countries of the world in terms of forest area, despite the fact that none of the other nine countries has a population density of more than 150 persons per square kilometre, compared to India, which has a population density of 382 persons per sq km. “India is ranked 10th in the world, with 24.4% of land area under forest and tree cover, even though it accounts for 2.4% of the world surface area and sustains the needs of 17% of human and 18% livestock population”, said Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. He averred that despite such tremendous population and pressures of livestock on our forests, India has been able to preserve and expand its forest wealth. The Minister added that as per the latest FAO report, India is placed 8th in the list of Top Ten nations reporting the greatest annual net gain in forest area.

Half Baked Effort

Recognising enormity of the challenge, the government reconstituted the ‘Intensification of Forest Management Scheme’ into the ‘Forest Fire Prevention & Management Scheme’ last year. However, only about 54% of the Rs 4,940 lakh allocation to states was released in 2017-18 as it was an ad hoc release as the scheme was reconstituted. Moderately dense forests are more prone to forest fires, according to the data. In August, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) asked the ministry to frame a national policy for prevention and control of forest fires within three months.

Humans Biggest Reason

“Over 95% of the fires are caused by humans,” Siddhanta Das, director general of forests, said. Experts believe the threat of forest fires is increasing as the soil is unable to retain moisture, with a warming climate. The report also states that the number of incidents has shown a rising trend, but there are also yearly spikes captured by the data, with the highest number of incidents being reported in 2009 which has reported 46,152 forest fire cases across the country. “We now use more advanced methods of reporting fires. Thermal imagery data is overlaid on the forest maps,” Rajesh Kumar, a senior official at the Forest Survey of India, said.

Nahan Witnessed Maximum Incidents

It is further revealed that in case of fire incidents Nahan topped the list which has reported 295 forest fire cases in 2016-17 followed by Dharamshala with 210 such incidents and Hamirpur recorded 207 forest fire cases during the period.

Himachal-o-Meter

The state’s ups and downs this week

Waterproof Tunnels To Be Constructed In Himachal

Solan: Tunnels to be constructed during four lane construction in Himachal will be waterproof. Waterproof sheet is being used for first time in tunnel construction process at Barog bye pass. The company involved in tunnels construction has imported special type of plastic sheet for waterproofing of tunnels. Notably, three tunnels will be constructed in four lane road on construction mode from Parwanoo to Solan. Construction work of first tunnel at Barog bye pass is almost complete and only waterproofing job is remaining. On completion of the construction work, it will have the privilege to be first tunnel in Himachal to be made with waterproof construction technology. Notably Rs. 500 crore will be spent o construction of three tunnels in Parwanoo-Shimla four lane. First 920 metre tunnel at Barog is almost ready and similarly two more tunnels, two kilometres long each, will be constructed at Kandaghat bye pass and near Waknaghat.

Educational Standards In Government Schools Fall

Shimla: National Achievement Survey (NAS) report has completely exposed the educational standards in government schools of Himachal Pradesh. The tall claims made by the state government of improving the quality of education in government schools and providing every facility to students were completely exposed in the report. Notably NCERT recently conducted an online examination of Mathematics, science, social science and language subject for third, fifth and eighth standard students in all government schools of the country. And the results announced by the state education department and National Achievement Survey team from Delhi were not encouraging for this hill state. No students from any government school of the state could cross 75% mark barrier. According to report, Sirmour stands at the lowest position in the state with no school able to cross 40% mark. Pangi area and Chamba district too could not show encouraging results. Students from Mandi district grabbed maximum of 48% marks in science subject while rest of the districts performed poorly.


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