Could India be at risk of California-like forest fires?

By Kalyani Prasher

On July 20 this year, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) submitted data related to forest fires in India to the Parliament. The most crucial figure in the report was that forest fires, or wildfires in the forests of India, went up by 158% in the last six years with over 35,000 incidents in that period.

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When we compare the percentage increase in forest fires in India over the last few years, we get a better idea of the current situation. In the last 16 years (2003-17), forest fires in India went up by 46%. In the face of this figure, the 158% increase looks much worse now. In the last two years, this huge jump has been maintained at 125%, with fire incidents going up from 15,937 in 2015 to 35,888 in 2017. Extrapolating data for the next 5 or 10 years from this trend, even when done conservatively, will tell you that we urgently need to arrest the growing fire incidents in the country. 

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As usual, natural phenomena like climate change and global warming are aided and abetted with full force by humans. As many as 95% of forest fires in India are believed to be caused by human negligence or interference. Even if you halve that figure, it is still too high. The 2016 Clayton Fire in California that destroyed 4,000 acres was caused by one person. The list of ways in which humans cause forest fires is long and shocking, ranging from arson to carelessly discarded cigarette butts. Lightning strikes that trigger wildfire cannot be helped, but we can certainly make sure we don’t leave an unattended bonfire or burn debris carelessly.  

India loses about Rs.550 crore annually due to forest fires, a fact that forced the government to reconstitute the Intensification of Forest Management Scheme to the Forest Fire Prevention & Management Scheme last year. However, not much has been done except the renaming. There is no national policy yet to tackle this increasing threat to life and livelihood, and only 54% of the fund allocated for the reconstituted scheme was released in 2017-18. To fight forest fires better, we need a better information system, more investment in advanced fire-fighting technologies and we need to invest time and money into training and equipping our forest officers adequately.

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