Col Satish Singh Lalotra
‘Anyone can see a forest fire. Skill lies in sniffling the first smoke’—–Robert A. Heinlein.
Lift any morning newspaper, scan the pages and invariably your eyes get fixated to a typical news that has been making the rounds in almost all the Himalayan states with a sickening regularity-the frightening news of ‘Forest fires’. Fires that have all the makings of devouring what stands for a balanced state of nature, and consequently devouring the fruits of conservation and development so assiduously nurtured by the human beings over the ages. The most amazing as well as perplexing issue of these forest fires is that they are no longer just confined to the typical summer months or to the oft repeated stance of the forest department experts —that these fires are the handiwork of so called ‘Chir-pine forests’. Fire broke out in the month of March this year at ‘Zabarwan forest’ range of Kashmir valley. Similar incidents have been happening in various forest areas of Jammu and Kashmir where there were heavy reporting of snow fall. The incidents at that time were said to be the handiwork of a prolonged dry spell , but the same lies shattered in the face of heavy snowfall in that area. The prolonged and unprecedented dry spell in the Himalayan region is attributed to the absence of strong western disturbances, prevailing El Nino conditions and a robust jet stream. The above has resulted into the snowcapped mountains and plains into a brown and barren landscape, creating a dry, desolate and virtually very frightful scenario. All this has had a devastating effect on the weather pattern too resulting into a severe impact on hydrology to the agro-economy of the valley.
Rising forest fires in the Himalayas are emerging as one of the major environmental hazards and calls for measures to prevent destruction of flora and fauna in these mountains. The latest trigger for writing this article of mine was the news that was being flashed a few days back with the headlines-‘Nainital lake boating stopped as also the high court of Utrrakhand at Nainital being shut temporarily’ obviously not due to any other reason but due to the raging fires that had come too close to comfort to these two iconic places. The write up though has Jammu and Kashmir as its centrality of thought and action, but with broad brush occurrences of forest fires, its reasons and remedies as applicable to other Himalayan states too. Jammu and Kashmir boasts of approximately 21,387 square kilometers of forest cover with rich reserves of flora and fauna. Forest resources are imperative for maintaining ecological balances and also serve as catchments for Himalayan Rivers. These forests are home to many species of wildlife. Though timber smuggling has always been the bane of forest department, it is still one of the major reasons for forest fires in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir that has now been given an additional heft in the form of clearance of forests for a better field of view for the security forces who are involved in continuous CI/CT (Counter insurgency / counter terrorism) operations against the militants. If we cast a glance across the globe, we will find that forest fires in the deep jungles of Australia, Canada, US, Greece etc have led to serious destruction and casualties in the past several decades. Over 3000 (three thousand) forest fires were reported in the Brazilian Amazon only few months back. As if this was not enough forest fires destroyed more than 400,000 (four lakh) hectares of forest cover with about 100 fatalities in the densely populated areas of Chile. As per some reports, Boreal forests in the northern hemisphere have been experiencing the worst wildfires in the recorded history till last year. According to numerous studies that have been published the world over, approximately 1-2 % of the world’s forested areas are engulfed by forest fires annually. Our TV Sets are now routinely televising worldwide forest fires for the last few years with a sickening regularity that has no end of abating, with helicopters and even fixed wing aircrafts spraying jets of water over these smoldering fires. It has been given to understand that some forest fires are beneficial for ecological renewal, nutrient recycling, control of alien invasives, pests, and diseases; but the vast majority of these fires are destructive in nature. These forest fires contribute annually about 2.5 to 4 billion tons of CO2, resulting in significant losses of both flora and faunal diversity.
The UT of Jammu & Kashmir has an entirely different foot print of its forest cover across both sides of the Pir Panchal ranges that form the so called physical divide of its two regions. The higher regions of the UT and even the middle ranges of the Shivaliks boasts of a preponderance of ‘Chir-pine’ trees that are full of pine needles and the carriers of pine oil. A look at the forest cover in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir will reveal to us that it comprises basically of dry pine needles with highly flammable resins/ oleo -resins, dry twigs, grasses and fallen branches and shrubs. It is no brainer that for any fire to be initiated, the typical ‘Fire-triangle ‘has to be set in motion which has three essential components – air/oxygen, fuel, and ignition or heat. In the higher reaches of Jammu & Kashmir which has a major shifting or nomadic population in the form of ‘Gujars /Bakerwals , they perform a perfect backdrop for this so called ‘Fire triangle’ to be set in motion for any devastating fire primarily for the regeneration of their pastures or grazing lands .
Not only these nomads, but even the local populations are hand in glove in starting these forest fires in the forests of Jammu and Kashmir and even in other Himalayan states. The main source of this deadly ‘Fire triangle’ is the ignition or heat source that has its origin either in the form of a human activity or through natural causes. This makes the forest fires either as man-made or natural. According to the latest reports of the ‘Forest survey of India’ (FSI), approximately 95% of forest fires are ‘Anthropogenic’ in nature i.e attributed to human activities. Natural forest fires result from occurrences like lightening, rolling stones, or the friction of dry grasses and shrubs. Deliberate fires are the handiwork of locals who are hand in glove with the timber mafia, all with their ulterior motives led with pecuniary gains. Additionally forest fires are the doings of even the builder mafias who try to encroach upon these forest lands, which is relatively a new phenomenon due to increase of pressure on land where horizontal expansion of their building ideas do not see the light of the day.
In the case of forest fire incidents in Utrakhand , the British are too partially to be blamed for importing the Pine and Deodar trees from their native lands of Europe which are the prime source of these fire incidents. Its requirement was felt due to the massive infra expansion undertaken by the British for the Indian railways, roads, bridges, dams in the 19th /20th century that had these trees at the center of these activities. A study carried out by IIT Roorke , says that from 2013 till 2022 about 23 thousand hectares of forest land has come under the arc of these forest fires induced by the typical ‘Dry fuel condition’ where in the pine leaves/ needles and dry twigs etc provide an ideal ecosystem for initiation of these forest fires. In fact the state government of Utrakhand in order to reduce these incidents of forest fires has kick started an excellent step of collection of these pine needles / leaves by the locals and bringing them to the collection centers setup by the state govt where they will be paid Rs 50/ per kg of this flammable material. The state pollution control board of Utrakhand will be the nodal center for taking forward this excellent imitative to fruition thereby reducing the forest fires to a large extent. IIT Roorkee has in fact gone a step ahead by devising an early warning system to detect forest fires based on an advanced computer model wherein the latest data pertaining to temperature, precipitation, and local wind conditions in a given area when fed into this system will generate the required info for the forest officials and the locals to take pre-emptive actions to sniffle these forest fires. The only way forward to stop these forest fires is to concentrate on the ways and means to tackle the so called ‘Fire season’ which begins in the Himalayan states from Feb/ March till May and June.
The forest department in conjunction with the locals could create ‘Fire lanes /lines, reduce the fuel load by switching to renewable sources of energy, controlled burning, awareness campaigns, fire control rooms, mock drills and finally preparedness and interdepartmental coordination etc with in the state machinery. These actions will form the ‘Pre-fire season strategy for the overall control and command of activities to reign in the forest fires. ‘During fire season strategy’ shall involve actions that detection based on SMS alerts by the FSI ( Forest survey of India) & SNPP/ VIIRS-( Suomi national polar orbiting partnership spacecraft & Visible infrared radiometer suite) as also rapid response teams etc. But once the forest fire having started and the damage being done , ‘Post -fire season’ strategy too should be in place that should have investigations, assessment of losses and ecological restoration measures in its ambit to have some worthwhile effect on ground.
A country of India’s size packed with an equal amount of diversity in its flora and faunas as also its forest cover requires some very stringent legal and penal measures to thwart unscrupulous elements from drawing their pound of flesh from one of the best natural resource of India. Some of the provisions enshrined by our legal luminaries in the Indian constitution to ward off such depredations from our forest wealth are as under-
* Indian forest act 1927 and wildlife protection act of 1972 vide their para 26 section (1) sub para (c). It provides that any person who kindles, keeps, or carries any fire except at such places as the forest -officer may notify in this behalf with in a RF (Reserved forest) shall be punishable with imprisonment, or with fine, or with both. The offence being non-bailable makes it a real deterrent for the offenders of forest fires.
* Section 33(1) (d) and 33(1) (e) of IFA, 1927 provides the same with respect to the protected forests.
* Section 51-A of the Indian constitution mandates every citizen to fulfill the responsibility of safeguarding and enhancing the natural environment, encompassing forests, lakes, rivers and the wildlife. When seen in conjunction with the FRA( Forest rights act) section 5(a) of the scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers ( Reorganization of forest rights) act of 2006 , we come to know that it imposes an obligation on holders of any forest rights to actively participate in the protection of wildlife , forests and the bio-diversity.
The UT of J&K had in its legal ambit the provisions of Kashmir forest notice of 1912 which extended concessions to legitimate users, particularly those whose village boundaries were within 3 miles from the demarcation line of the designated forests. Similarly rule 21 of the Kashmir forest notice too directed the locals to promptly inform the forest officials of any forest fires in their areas. Despite all the legal eagles and eager- mongers, the situation on ground is that of a dismal implementation of the above laws and duties. Will the public at large and the authorities sniffle the first smoke that emanates from these forest fires? Or will they wait till eternity? Let the readers decide for themselves.
(The writer is a retired army officer.)
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