Karnataka forest fires: Ecologists, forest officials point to man-made causes behind wildfires

14 March 2023

Published by: https://www.news9live.com

INDIA – According to the Karnataka Forest Department (KFD) data, over 2,000 incidents of forest fires were recorded in the state since February 15, 2023.

Bengaluru: With an increase of unabated forest fires in the Western Ghats range in Karnataka in recent weeks, senior forest officials and environmentalists blamed man-made causes for the recurring wildfires. In the last two months, a 13-year-old girl and a forest guard died due to forest fires.

The majority of the recurring forest fires in the Western Ghats range were a direct consequence of human intervention, senior forest officials said.

Speaking with News9, a senior forest official with the Karnataka Forest Department (KFD), said there were no “natural” forest fires and all were man-made – either accidental or intentional.

“All forest fires are mostly man-made. People, in many cases, kindle the fire due to animosity towards the forest department: in case they were booked by the forest department, they choose to do this as revenge. Poachers also set fire to drive animals out of the forest. In some accidental cases, tourists or locals dump cigarette or beedi (tobacco rolled in leaf) butts, which then lead to forest fires,” said the senior official on the condition of anonymity.

Decent spells of rain in the last few years, the forest official explained, have led to increased grass growth in the forest patches.

“One should understand the vastness of the area. The terrain is difficult and highly inaccessible in many parts. The dry spell this time is also making it difficult to control the fire – this scenario is across the country. But we have strategies to deal with the problem: our watchers are proactively on the field to douse the fire; we also involve the local communities and speak with them.”

The official said perpetrators who kindle fire would be booked under the Indian Forest Act of 1927.

“We also have a robust system: the Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Centre (KSRSAC) provides us with the information and near real-time satellite data. Once we receive the data, our personnel are alerted in case of a critical fire. The response time has been majorly reduced,” the official added.

Over 2,000 forest fire incidents this season across the state

According to the KFD data, between February 15 and March 2 this year, 2,020 incidents of forest fires were recorded in the state. The data, accessed by News9, showed that Belagavi, Bhadravathi, Chikkaballapura, Chitradurga, Haliyal, Hassan, Ramanagara and Sagara recorded 245, 178, 128, 129, 151, 117, 105 and 163 forest fire incidents, respectively.

The forest department locates the wildfires using thermal sensors from satellites: Aqua MODIS, Terra MODIS, SNPP-VIIRS and NOAA20 -VIIRS. According to the department, the “forest fire incidents” are derived from the cumulative fire alerts detected in an area by the day’s end.

“All the fire alerts that fall within a one km buffer area will be considered as one fire incident. If the fire is continuous and spreads beyond the buffer area, it will also be considered as one fire incident only. This will help to remove the multiple or duplicate fire alerts of the same fire incident event. It will indicate the intensity of the actual fire that occurred. And if it’s not doused and or feedback is not submitted then it becomes critical fire,” KFD notes.

Last week, a 13-year-old girl died in a forest fire in the Tumakuru district. In February 2023, a forest guard succumbed while trying to douse a forest fire in the Kadumane forest in the Western Ghats.

Since January 2023, Kali Tiger Reserve in Uttara Kannada district has lost over 100 hectares of forest land due to forest fires.

Maria Christu Raja D, Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) and the Director of Kali Tiger Reserve, said that even in the region, the majority of the forest fires were man-made.

“Since last four-five years, we have not faced the issue of forest fires. Some of the challenges our personnel face during this time are the difficult terrain, humid weather conditions, and this time the soil moisture is at an all-time low. On some days, the wind also acts favourable to the fire, helping it spread faster,” the DCF told News9.

“The landscape is also large: the Kali Tiger Reserve spreads over 1,500 square kilometres. There are many settlements inside, and people, for various reasons, kindle fires. We also have a lot of high-tension electric lines. When power surges happen, it results in forest fires. In our landscape, 20-25 per cent of forest fires start because of this reason. Currently, the forest fires are completely under control in the area.”

The forest official said the personnel had a hard time controlling the fire at an inaccessible valley region nearly 20 days ago. “We managed the rest of the fire incidents comfortably.”

Explaining the process of dousing fires, Raja said: “The first step is detection at the earliest and deploying the maximum resources. During the fires, the personnel first make a fire break – create a gap – locally in the leaf litter, which acts as fuel. If necessary, we kindle a counterfire. If the wind is not blowing hard and the terrain is favourable, there is no need to kindle a counterfire.”

“We first create a situation where the fire does not move out of the region, which we call the break. Then personnel will ensure the counterfire is kindled in a controlled environment on the opposite side. It is the standard practice around the world and is, probably, the only workable way to douse fire in a large landmass.”

Environmentalists rope in religious leaders

A group of environmentalists from Bengaluru have written to religious leaders in the state and asked them to “advise their disciples and followers to desist from burning our precious forests”.

“Your Holiness, we are all in the midst of a climate emergency manifesting in extreme climate events across the world. Despite being aware of the exigencies of excessive heat, drought, unprecedented rains, floods, and landslides, some people have set forests on fire. This is being intentionally done to avenge forest offence cases filed against them for illegally felling trees, poaching of wildlife species and encroachment of forest landscapes”, the letter by United Conservation Movement (UCM) noted.

It was written to several religious leaders, including the Archbishop of Bengaluru Rev Dr Peter Machado, Nirmalanandanath Swami of Adhichunchagiri Mutt, Rajya Sabha MP and hereditary administrator of the Dharmasthala Temple Dr D Veerendra Heggade and Imam Imran Khateeb-o-Imam of the Jamia Masjid in Bengaluru.

The environmentalists also asked the leaders to advise their disciples and followers to “come together to conserve forests for the greater good of our children and generations to come”.

Speaking with News9, Joseph Hoover, the president of UCM, claimed that the forest department lacks staff and equipment to tackle forest fires, and the government has done nothing to address it.

“Our leaders are busy campaigning for elections. While the neighbouring Goa is using helicopters to douse the forest fires, our leaders use helicopters for election campaigning,” said Hoover, a former member of the state board for wildlife in Karnataka.

The environmentalist said the lack of a designated forest minister has added to the issue. “How can you expect the department to function? There is a lack of accountability. They don’t care. Forests are a precious thing for biodiversity. But we are ruining it.”

Hoover, too, concurred with the forest officials that nearly 90 per cent of the forest fires were man-made.

“People need to be educated. Hence, we have reached out to the religious leaders. People should be aware that ecological Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is far bigger than our economic GDP. If we see the case of Charmadi Ghat, the forest fires there was kindled as revenge against cases filed earlier by the forest officials against 11 people.”