Forest fire management

Devastating forest fire in Mizoram's Lunglei district has left several settlements destroyed. It also exposed the yawning gaps in forest fire management in Northeast region which accounts for more than fifty per cent of forest fires in India. The Indian Air Force deployed two helicopters equipped with Bambi buckets for spraying water to bring the raging fire in the district and adjoining areas under control following an SOS by the Mizoram government. It is heartening to know that no casualty has been reported from the affected areas. The prevailing COVID-19 pandemic situation will make providing shelter and rehabilitation to affected people a challenging task. According to "India State of Forest Report, 2019" Mizoram accounts for the highest 29.91 per cent of its forest cover spreading over an area of 5423 sq. km is "extremely fire prone" and 38.46 per cent forest cover (7009 sq. km) is "very highly fire prone" and 24.64 per cent forest cover (4481 sq. km) is highly fire-prone." The state is virtually sitting on a volcano of forest fires with nearly 93 per cent of its total forest cover being extremely and highly fire prone while only 5.35 per cent of its forest over is "moderately prone to fire" and just 1.64 per cent forest cover is "less fire prone." This calls for making the forest fire management the topmost priority in the list of disaster management in the state. However, the vulnerability estimates in the India State of Forest Report and the Mizoram State Disaster Management Plan, 2020 do not match with each other. In the State Disaster Management Plan, only 0.4 per cent area (93.2sq. km) has been identified under "very high" vulnerability class while 48.4 per cent (10,068sq. km) has been classed as moderately vulnerable and vulnerability of 37.2 per cent (7735sq. km) are stated to be high. The vulnerability estimates are critical component in management of forest fire and existence of two sets of estimates give rise to questions on effectiveness of the management plans including preparedness to avert a disaster. Investigations will reveal as to what caused the outbreak of devastating forest fire in Lunglei district. The disaster management plan states that forest fires in Mizoram occur in the dry season from November to May, "mainly caused by shifting cultivation and the negligence of fire line creation." It also states that "most of the forest areas in Mizoram are covered by the mixture of Tropical dry deciduous and evergreen vegetation. The leaf litter, dry herb due to loss of moisture tend to burn during dry season. Besides, it has been noticed that for want of new generation of herb for wild animal, hunters used to fire the leaf litter under the forest cover." Villagers preferring abandoned shifting patches for repetition of shifting cultivation has also been identified as one of the main causes of forest fire in the management plan. The National Action Plan on Forest Fires, 2018 formulated by the Ministry of Environment and Forest aims at reducing incidences of forest fire by informing, enabling, empowering, and incentivising the communities living on the fringe of forest areas to work in tandem with state forest departments. The vulnerability of forest fire being quite high Mizoram qualifies to get higher allocations under the centrally-funded Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme, 2017 to achieve the objectives of the national action plan. Judicious utilization of such fund and timely submission of utilization certificates has to be ensured by the state government and departments concerned to enable the Central government to release the allocated fund on time. Forest fires results in release of carbon-di-oxide stored in trees and vegetation for hundreds of years and thus adding to rise in atmospheric pollution and global warming. Loss of such permanent carbon sinks contributes adversely affecting the carbon sequestration. Forest fires in picturesque Dzokou valley along Nagaland-Manipur inter-state boundaries that raged for days together brought to the fore the huge challenges faced by the state and central agencies in controlling forest fires in the region. As 95 per cent of forest fires are caused by human beings, early detection of fire lines in the forest are essential to contain its spread and quickly dousing before it causes destroys forest cover and adversely affect the environment. Forest Survey of India disseminates satellite-based forest fire alerts to all states and Union Territories. A key recommendation included in a joint report by the Ministry of Environment and Forest and the World Bank titled "Strengthening Forest Fire Management in India" underlines the need for giving the communities a voice in the decision-making process for effective community involvement in forest fire management. Quick dissemination of the satellited-based forest alerts to the community can avert delay in controlling the fire but will require a robust mechanism to be put in place.