Forest officials in Ranchi are using satellite images to locate forest fires and douse them before they could cause major damage to the flora and fauna here, officials from the forest department said on Wednesday, adding that special teams have been constituted to visit the fire sites and douse the forest fire in some of the worst-affected areas.
“We are using satellite images and locations to identify areas which are affected by forest fires. Forest rangers have constituted teams at their level to locate and douse forest fires,” said Ranchi District Forest Officer, Ashok Dubey, adding that the special teams are rushed to the fire locations as soon as the department gets an alert through satellite.
Dubey said that the reaction time is quite less for the teams on duty to douse forest fire as fire may engulf huge areas of plantation in a short period of time due to the presence of dry leaves and branches during this season. “It is particularly challenging for us as the leaves and branches are mostly dry during this time of the year. Dry leaves and shrubs easily catch fire due to lack of moisture,” the Ranchi DFO said.
The special teams constituted for dousing forest fires are equipped with sand and water containers to reduce the heat in the bushes. Once the heat is reduced, they use the process of beating the bushes to put off the residual fire, forest officials said.
Incidents of man-made forest fires have been on the rise this month in Ranchi district as it is the time for harvest of Mahua – a flower used for making country liquor. Villagers, officials said, often set forest areas on fire to collect Mahua, which falls off trees during this season and is unaffected by fire. Incidents of natural forest fires are rare in Jharkhand but man-made forest fires are posing to be a threat for the wildlife in the state, say forest officials.
Environmentalists are of the opinion that dried up rivers and water bodies in the jungles are also partly responsible for a rise in incidents of forest fires. Nitish Priyadarshi, an environmentalist who recently visited forest areas around Sita Fall and Jonha Fall in Ranchi, said that water bodies add moisture to the soil, therefore preventing the fire from spreading fast.
“The water bodies are drying up at an alarming rate. It will get difficult to contain forest fire when there is no moisture in the soil,” he
said.