In 6 Months, 28,000 Incidents Of Forest Fires Across India Led To Great Loss To Fragile Ecosystem

Forest fires in India hit peak every year in the dry months of March and April before the onset of monsoon.

According to a data by Environment Ministry, over 28,000 incidents of forest fire were detected in the country since January this year.

Responding to a query in Lok Sabha, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand suffered losses to the tune of Rs 80 lakh and Rs 55 lakh, respectively, due to incidents of forest fire.

"As per the report received from states, Himachal Pradesh has reported a loss Rs 81.91 lakh while Uttarakhand has reported a loss of Rs 55.08 lakh. No loss of human live has been reported by Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. No other state has reported any such loss so far," Javadekar said.

Data compiled by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) shows that forest fire incidents in the country have risen 49.32 per cent in the past three years. These incidents rose to 37,059 in 2018 from 35,888 in 2017 and 24,817 in 2016.

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A total of 28,252 incidents of forest fire were detected by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) using MODIS censors from January 1 to June 16. the maximum 2,793 were detected in Mizoram followed by Madhya Pradesh (2,622) and Maharashtra (2,302).

More than 1,000 incidents of forest fire were detected during these six months in Odisha, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Telangana and Nagaland, reported the PTI.

Last week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a plea seeking urgent steps to protect forest, wildlife and birds from wildfires in Uttarakhand. The apex court noted that forest fires are a serious issue and ¡°in the meantime, pray for rain.¡±

Each year, forest fires cause great loss to forest ecosystem, diversity of flora and fauna and economic wealth.