With rain across the State providing much needed relief from forest fires, activists and subject experts have stressed on the need for proper review and assessment of the Governmental mechanism and local practices which influence incidence of forest fires.
The rainy spell providing a few days of relief could cause some complacency though the State administration has stated that the Governmental personnel and resources will remain in place to ensure swifter and more efficient action to control forest fires and other disaster scenarios also keeping the imminent start of the Char Dham Yatra in a few days.
According to information provided by the State authorities, till Thursday afternoon, the total number of forest fire incidents was recorded at 1810 with the total affected area being placed at about 3,975 hectare while the evaluated loss was stated to be Rs 41,08,350.
Officials of the Forest Department and State
administration maintain that though the forest fire phenomenon might be considered as part of a natural cycle, with about 50 cases of intentional fire being lodged in this season so far, the human involvement and absence of necessary systematic changes needs to be addressed without delay.
Activists and the general public especially in the mountainous regions of the State favour the need for eradicating corruption and taking effective measures involving local villagers who feel deprived of their traditional rights.
According to Suresh Bhai of the Nadi Bachao Abhiyan, thousands of hectares of area is affected by forest fires every year but there has been an upward trend in the number and effect of forest fires in recent years. He says, “The villagers should be made responsible for the forest condition as has been demanded for some years now by locals and environmentalists. Traditional forest dwellers have been evicted from their lands citing provisions for national parks and protected forest areas. Since the colonial era, those who had nurtured the forests were treated as encroachers. Villagers now face difficulties in trying to get fodder, firewood and other forest products from ‘their own forests’. The people, public representatives and forest department need to combine efforts for controlling the forest fire phenomenon. The task of drawing fire lines should be given to the local villagers in a manner that also generates employment for them. The need for tree plantation every year spending crores of rupees has been surpassed by the need for ensuring protection of the forests from fire,” he said.
Along with various other activists, he stresses on the need for according forest rights to the local residents. This will not only ensure better protection of forests from fire incidence but will also enable the authorities to do the needful as he forest department has no such manpower to extinguish the fires on its own without the assistance of the people, he added.
Observers point out various issues including work on growing native broad leafed trees which were in the colonial era replaced by pine trees for commercial purpose. Addressing the corruption at various levels in the forest department and other authorities concerned in addition to making legal provisions clearer and stringent is also needed to protect the forests, they add.