With Odisha registering a rise in forest fires, Director General Forests Sanjay Kumar has advised the State Government to put in place special arrangements to deal with these threats.
Rise in temperature in the State has created conducive atmosphere for forest fires and Odisha has registered a sudden jump in forest fires across the State.
More than 5,300 fire spots have been noticed since November 1 and during March, there is a spike in forest fires in the State. November 1 is the beginning of forest fire season and in the month of March, more than 4,400 fire spots were registered in the State.
Incidents of forest fires are more reported in Koraput, Kalahandi, Sundargarh and Sambalpur districts.
Similarly, Southern Zones are reporting more fire spots and incidents, officials said.
This season also witnesses increased threat of human-wild animal conflicts, damage to plantations, nurseries, and stress of animals in zoos.
Under this backdrop, DG Forests Sanjay Kumar has made the State Government aware about the vulnerability of forests to fire incidents.
Satellite based forest fire alerts issued by the Forest Survey of India have revealed that the country has witnessed a sharp rise in forest fire last week.
The Forest Fire Geo Portal Survey puts southern Odisha on the red as more fire incidents are reported in these areas.
While the Department of Forest and Environment has mapped the Forest Divisions prone to forest fires and was maintaining more than 6,000-km-long fireline in different forests ahead of the fire season, incidents of fires are on the rise.
The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) is monitoring the forest fire incidents and arrangements are being made at Forest Division level to contain forest fires.
However, Kumar has advised the State Government to put in special arrangements to take care of the fire hazards.
He said that given the extraordinary challenges of COVID-19 and hot and dry season, preparedness in the State, where forest fires are on rise, warrants early action.
The DG Forests has advised to notify a senior official as Nodal Officer for forest fires, who will be in constant touch with Forest Fire Control Cell of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
While COVID-19 has put enormous stress on the Government resources, but protection of forest and environment is also one of the priorities of the Government.
So exemption of restriction on movement of forest personnel has been favoured by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which is handling the lockdown management in the country.
Kumar has also advised to review situation by the State Forest Fire Monitoring Committee to ensure collaborative mitigation actions in the field level, said sources.