In Uttarakhand forest fire season, plans to reduce damage focus on community participation, tech

During the British period, fire lines were used to prevent fire from spreading in a forest. As fire spreads only if there is a continuous supply of dry vegetation along its path, creating firebreaks in the shape of small clearings or ditches in the forests will help break its path. The department has not decided how many trees will be cut for this process. This system will be in use from the next season, officers said.

Uttarakhand saw 1,276 incidents of fire in 2024, with 1771.76 hectares of area affected. This was a rise from 773 incidents and 933.55 hectares of forest land in 2023. The department is hoping to bring it down this year. Rs 39 crore was allocated through funds from the Centre, the state, and the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) towards tackling forest fires, and Rs 35 crore has been utilised this fiscal year. “We had requested Rs 20 crore from the Centre, but we received Rs 3 crore,”  Nishant Verma, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Nodal Officer, Forest Fire, told The Indian Express.

An integrated command and control centre and an app called Forest Fire Uttarakhand Mobile App have been developed to make the state’s information, alert, and management system more efficient. “The mobile app will be used not only by departmental officials but also with the cooperation of various self-help groups, women’s/youth groups, forest management committees, Van Panchayat sarpanch, and village heads,” said Verma.

Head of Forest Force, Dhananjay Mohan, said that community participation would also be ensured by roping in communities. As part of the Shitlakhet model, visits and day-long sessions are being conducted for field staff, SHGs, and Forest Fire Management Committees to help them manage and prevent fires. So far, exposure visits have been conducted for 20 teams from 15 forest divisions, involving 970 participants, including forest officials and forest panchayat leaders. The HoFF said that to enhance community involvement in forest fire management and encourage greater participation in conservation efforts, the state government has revised the previously fixed collection rate for pine leaves from Rs 3 per kg to Rs 10. The department paid Rs 1.135 crore to SHGs for pirul (pine needles) collected last year.

Moreover, the department will pay Rs 11,000 per month to a fire watcher, Verma said. The government had launched efforts to collect pine needles to reduce their quantity in the forests as they are believed to catch fire quickly.