Karnataka forest dept recorded over 2,000 fire incidents since Feb 15: Data

10 March 2023

Published by: https://indianexpress.com

INDIA – Forest divisions Belagavi, Bhadravathi, Chikkaballapura, Chitradurga, Haliyal, Hassan, Ramanagara and Sagar have recorded 245, 178, 128, 129, 151, 117, 105 and 163 fire incidents, respectively.

According to the data shared by the Karnataka forest department, since February 15, the forests in the state have recorded more than 2,042 fire incidents. Of these, 627 have been large scale forest fires.

Forest divisions Belagavi, Bhadravathi, Chikkaballapura, Chitradurga, Haliyal, Hassan, Ramanagara and Sagar have recorded 245, 178, 128, 129, 151, 117, 105 and 163 fire incidents, respectively, which according to the department is the highest.

A senior forest official on condition of anonymity said while the department adopts a strategy of creating and maintaining fire lines, there are challenges like lack of adequate manpower and funds to address the issue.

“Apart from creating firelines in the forest, we coordinate with the fire department. We even sensitise communities living in and around the forest area and seek their support in dousing the flames. These are man made fire incidents. We have a good system to get real time fire alerts from Karnataka State Remote Sensing Application Centre,” the official said.

While there were proposals to rope in Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters to douse the flames, officials said it did not materialise. “There are certain forest areas where helicopters cannot be used. However, we have floated tenders to procure drones mounted with thermal sensors in order to get fire alerts. The drones will be monitored by the Karnataka State Remote Sensing Application Centre and the forest department,” another official said.

Field officials from the forest department said that not only do farmers light fires in the forest to grow grass but also do the local villagers in order to settle scores with the forest department. “Poachers also light fires to drive animals to a certain location where hunting becomes easy. Nobody was prepared for a sudden increase in fire incidents. We do have vacancies to hire more people for ground work. These fires take place in vast areas at treacherous terrains which are inaccessible. The forest staffers go on foot to douse the fire,” the official said.

The Union government has allocated only Rs 3 crore to address forest fires in Karnataka. Out of this, only Rs 60 lakh has been released. The forest department has requested for the release of the second installment.

A Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF) said that most of the frontline staffers who are deputed to control fire in Karnataka have not been paid salaries for three months. “They have not been paid for months. Even we need money to buy protective gear,” said the DCF.

Last week, three bikes of the forest staff were charred in the forest fire at Chikkamagaluru. In February, Deputy Range Forest Officer (DRFO) Manjunath succumbed to severe burn injuries while dousing the flames in the Sakleshpur forest range.

In 2022, Karnataka witnessed 2,262 fire incidents from January to March and in the same period in 2021, there were 2,323 such occurrences.

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