Opinion Uttarakhand forest fire: Climate-proof the state

At least five people have lost their lives in the fires that have now spread over 1,000 hectares of forests in much of Uttarakhand. There is a danger of the blaze fanning out to heavily populated urban centres including Nainital city. Poor visibility has constrained the Air Force’s firefighting efforts. Experts believe that burning forests intensify heat and lead to black carbon emissions, adversely affecting water systems and air quality. The state government has blamed the fires on human activities and banned people from setting fire to fodder for a week. Urban bodies have been asked to stop people from burning solid waste in and around forests. These are much-needed emergency measures. Forest fires are, however, a far too serious problem to be doused by bans and punitive measures. The gutting of Uttarakhand’s forests is a sign of the aggravating climate crisis. Securing people’s lives and protecting the biosphere will require a diverse range of experts to put their heads together — ecologists, climate scientists, geologists, fire safety and disaster management professionals. Administrators will have to find ways to secure the support of communities.

Nearly 95 per cent of forest fires in the country, including in Uttarakhand, are initiated by human activities. Historically, the accumulation of pine needles on the forest floor during the summer months was the main reason for the fires in the Himalayan season. Some of the combustion is necessary for the forest to regenerate — the burning of litter promotes the growth of fresh grasses. However, the ecological beneficial activity of the past has assumed a severely destructive character in recent years. Fires, as several Forest Survey of India Reports point out, are also caused by people clearing land for agriculture or as a result of accidental sparks — from discarded cigarette or beedi stubs for instance. February to June is usually the time when blazes erupt in Uttarakhand. There is growing evidence that this season is beginning early. For instance, the state reported the highest number of fire alerts in the country in the second week of January. This was also an abnormally dry spell for the region. In fact, the monsoon was deficient in large parts of the state last year and it also recorded a 70 per cent rainfall shortage in November and December. The aridity has aggravated this summer. Uttarakhand has witnessed its driest April in five years. In such moisture-deficient conditions, fire spreads fast, especially in oxygen-rich environs such as forests.

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The Himalayan state’s forest department has initiated remedial measures like putting in place firelines — gaps in vegetation to check the spread of the blaze. But Uttarakhand’s forests need more proactive measures including putting in place weather prediction systems, satellite monitoring and training communities to become first responders. Much damage is regularly inflicted in Uttarakhand by natural calamities that can, by all accounts, be blamed on faulty policymaking — floods and landslides, for instance. The ecologically fragile state must be climate-proofed.