Uttarakhand forest fire: How are forest fires caused and how frequent are they in India?

• Amid forest fires in Uttarakhand’s Nainital district, the Indian Air Force was engaged in firefighting operations.

Key Highlights:

• The Nainital, Haldwani and Ramnagar forest divisions were worst affected.
• In some regions, the fires were doused with the help of a Bambi bucket, used to pour large amounts of water on the flames in relatively quick intervals.

Forest Fires:

• Uncontrolled and non-prescribed combustion or burning of plants in a natural setting such as a forest, grassland, brushland or tundra.
• Consumes the natural fuels and spreads based on conditions like wind, topography, moisture, vegetation etc.
• Severe fires occur in many forest types particularly dry deciduous forest, while evergreen, semi-evergreen and montane temperate forests are comparatively less prone
• Dry leaves are fuel for forest fires.
• The Forest Survey of India (FSI) website states that nearly 36 per cent of India’s forests are prone to frequent fires.
• Indian State of Forest Report 2021 also found that states in northeastern India showed the highest tendency for forest fires.

Reasons for Forest Fires:

• Most fires are believed to be man-made, due to changes in agriculture and unchecked land-use patterns.
• The forest department has previously cited four causes of wildfires: deliberate fires by locals, carelessness, farming-related activities and natural reasons.

Preventing Forest Fires:

• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) lists the following methods to prevent and control a forest fire:
  • Construction of watch towers for early detection;
  • Deployment of fire watchers;
  • Involvement of local communities,
  • Creation and maintenance of fire lines.
• According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) website, two types of fire lines are in practice –
  • Kachha or covered fire lines and
  • Pucca or open fire lines.
• In Kaccha fire lines, the grasses and shrubs are removed while trees are retained to decrease the fuel load.
• The Pucca fire separates a forest/compartment/block from another to control the spread of potential fires.