Lok Sabha Question No. 2678 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-06
Subject: Incidents of Forest Fire
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Prataprao  Jadhav, Gopal Chinayya Shetty

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2678

TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.03.2020

## Incidents of Forest Fire

## 2678 . SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV:

## SHRI GOPAL CHINNAYA SHETTY:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE bepleased to state:

- (a) the number of incidents of forest fires occurred during the last three years along with the total land destroyed in hectares and the monetary loss incurred due to forest fires, State-wise;
- (b) whether the incidents of repeated fires have increased, especially in the forest in mountainous areas and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether any investigation has been undertaken to inquire into any notoriety in forest fires to encroach forest land and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether there is any proposal to set up an independent agency to assess the actual loss and to set a budget for compensation; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO )

- (a) &(b)  The  number  of  incidents  of  forest  fire  in  the  country  varies  from  year  to  year depending on various natural and anthropogenic reasons. As reported by State and Union Territories, details of forest fires in the last three years are given in Annexure.
- (c) Ministry in collaboration with the World Bank has conducted a study on Situation Analysis of Forest Fire and released a study report titled 'Strengthening Forest Fire Management in India' which contains various recommendations regarding forest fire prevention, detection, suppression, post-fire management, engaging with communities, coordination with other agencies etc. Inputs from the study were used by the Ministry in preparation of National Action Plan on Forest Fire which has been circulated to all State/UTs in April,2018 to take appropriate action so as to minimize forest  fires  by  informing,  enabling  and  empowering forest fringe communities and incentivizing  them  to  work  in  tandem  with  the  Forest  Departments,  reducing  the vulnerability  of forests  across  the  diverse  forest  ecosystems  in  the  country  against fire  hazards,  enhancing  the  capabilities  of  forest  personnel  and  institutions  in fighting fires, and speeding up recovery after a fire event.
- (d) &(e) Indian  Council  of  Forestry  Research  &  Education  (ICFRE),  Dehradun  has  been entrusted to carry out a 'Study on  Estimation of Economic losses in Real Term per Hectare Basis due to Forest Fire in Uttarakhand and  Madhya  Pradesh'  in collaboration  with  Forest  Survey  of  India,  Wildlife  Institute  of  India,  National Institute of Hydrology and GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment & Sustainable Development for estimation of economic losses in real term per hectare basis due to forest fire in Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh.

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ANNEXURE Annexure referred to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2678 due for 06.03.2020 regarding 'Incidents of Forest Fire'

## Details of Forest Fire

| S. No.   | State/Union Territory   | 2017                        | 2017                   | 2018                        | 2018                   | 2019                        | 2019                   |
|----------|-------------------------|-----------------------------|------------------------|-----------------------------|------------------------|-----------------------------|------------------------|
| S. No.   | State/Union Territory   | No. of Inciden ts Report ed | Area Affected (in ha.) | No. of Inciden ts Reporte d | Area Affected (in ha.) | No. of Inciden ts Report ed | Area Affected (in ha.) |
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh          | 8274                        | 7554.79                | 16171                       | 8449.47                | 6778                        | 3591.13                |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh       | 18                          | 10.5                   | 28                          | 11                     | 13                          | 0                      |
| 3        | Assam                   | 2405                        | 26                     | 2200                        | 5.5                    | 40                          | 18.1                   |
| 4        | Bihar                   | 581                         | 860.33                 | 293                         | 438.08                 | 490                         | 1048                   |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh            | 33179                       | 20062                  | 23091                       | 11712                  | 17506                       | 12697                  |
| 6        | Goa                     | 47                          | 130.8                  | 38                          | 113.29                 | 10                          | 0                      |
| 7        | Gujarat                 | 1276                        | 6141.40                | 976                         | 3605.77                | 490                         | 1336.32                |
| 8        | Haryana                 | 81                          | 325                    | 213                         | 815                    | 28                          | 145                    |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh        | 1164                        | 9408.09                | 2544                        | 25859.16               | 1241                        | 6686.12                |
| 10       | J&K                     | 444                         | 1190.76                | 429                         | 906.66                 | 315                         | 2095.99                |
| 11       | Jharkhand               | 1043                        | 1820.2                 | 664                         | 975.34                 | 7501                        | 486.23                 |
| 12       | Karnataka               | 925                         | 6976.85                | 985                         | 3160                   | 169                         | 1350                   |
| 13       | Kerala                  | 737                         | 2989                   | 315                         | 1059                   | 581                         | 1788                   |
| 14       | Madhya Pradesh          | 5840                        | 17038.81               | 3490                        | 11177.25               | 3221                        | 13523                  |
| 15       | Maharashtra             | 5889                        | 32063.61               | 8464                        | 45289.53               | 6223                        | 29820.50               |
| 16       | Manipur                 | 2711                        | Not Assessed           | 5716                        | Not Assessed           | 11                          | Not Assessed           |
| 17       | Meghalaya               | 142                         | 520.00                 | 734                         | 81.2                   | 1054                        | 132.13                 |
| 18       | Mizoram                 | 32                          | 238.73                 | 20                          | 135.45                 | 12                          | 60                     |
| 19       | Nagaland                | 1                           | 0.00                   | 0                           | 0                      | 0                           | 0                      |
| 20       | Odisha                  | 36827                       | 14121.10               | 31680                       | 9730.06                | 19787                       | 7164.95                |
| 21       | Punjab                  | 131                         | 1327.15                | 693                         | 4459.39                | 69                          | 118.16                 |
| 22       | Rajasthan               | 140                         | 3648.4                 | 260                         | 3356.47                | 394                         | 5316.30                |
| 23       | Sikkim                  | 62                          | 328.71                 | 53                          | 305.5                  | 23                          | 95                     |
| 24       | Tamil Nadu              | 711                         | 1345.12                | 1153                        | 2104.10                | 1605                        | 2023.83                |
| 25       | Telangana               | 3390                        | 126346                 | 13002                       | 166202                 | 13900                       | 163437                 |
| 26       | Tripura                 | 58                          | 120.64                 | 76                          | 150.42                 | 3                           | 15                     |
| 27       | Uttar Pradesh           | 250                         | 696.26                 | 661                         | 528.83                 | 674                         | 466                    |
| 28       | Uttarakhand             | 790                         | 1288.04                | 2148                        | 4478.54                | 2150                        | 2972.30                |
| 29       | West Bengal             | 263                         | 1377.27                | 688                         | 1799.17                | 124                         | 324.60                 |
| 30       | A&NIsland               | 9                           | 16.50                  | 6                           | 10.28                  | 0                           | 0                      |
| 31       | Chandigarh              | 0                           | 0                      | 0                           | 0                      | 0                           | 0                      |
| 32       | D&NHaveli               | 14                          | 0                      | 13                          | 0                      | 0                           | 0                      |
| 33       | Delhi                   | 12                          | 104.96                 | 15                          | 70.91                  | 5                           | 0                      |
| 34       | Daman &Diu              | 0                           | 0                      | 0                           | 0                      | 0                           | 0                      |
| 35       | Lakshadweep             | 0                           | 0                      | 0                           | 0                      | 0                           | 0                      |

## Details of estimated loss

## (i) Some States have reported estimated losses due to forest fires as per table given below:

|        |                  | 2017                          | 2018                          | 2019                          |
|--------|------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|
| S. No. | States           | Estimated Loss (in Rs. lakhs) | Estimated Loss (in Rs. lakhs) | Estimated Loss (in Rs. lakhs) |
| 1      | Assam            | 3.52                          | 0.18                          | 1.67                          |
| 2      | Gujarat          | 23.06                         | 16.21                         | 5.52                          |
| 3      | Himachal Pradesh | 196.41                        | 325.00                        | 122.10                        |
| 4      | Kerala           | 0.42                          | 1.45                          | 1.45                          |
| 5      | Maharashtra      | 42.07                         | 70.39                         | 54.51                         |
| 6      | Meghalaya        | 7.20                          | Not Assessed                  | Not Assessed                  |
| 7      | Nagaland         | 0.10                          | 0.00                          | 0.00                          |
| 8      | Punjab           | 15.51                         | 9.13                          | 1.09                          |
| 9      | Rajasthan        | 9.21                          | 57.67                         | 12.07                         |
| 10     | Uttar Pradesh    | 8.21                          | 0.27                          | 0.21                          |
| 11     | Uttarakhand      | 21.25                         | 86.05                         | 55.72                         |
| 12     | West Bengal      | 76.20                         | 29.59                         | 5.32                          |

- (ii)  States  viz.  Andhra  Pradesh,  Arunachal  Pradesh,  Bihar,  Chhattisgarh,  Goa,  Haryana,  J&K, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura and 7 UTs viz. Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Delhi, Daman & Diu, Lakshdweep and Puducherry have reported that most of the fires are ground fires in which only dried leaves etc got burnt and there is no considerable damage.
- (iii) Manipur and Odisha have reported that losses due to forest fires are not assessed.

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