Lok Sabha Question No. 4512 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-19
Subject: Forest Fires
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Janardan Mishra, M.K. Vishnu Prasad, Rodmal Nagar

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 4512

TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.07.2019

## Forest Fires

## 4512 . SHRI JANARDAN MISHRA: DR. M.K. VISHNU PRASAD: SHRI RODMAL NAGAR:

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

- (a) the number of forest fires reported from various parts of the country in the last three years, State/UT-wise;
- (b) whether any investigation has been made and action suggested to prevent such fires and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the quantum of loss to the forest ecosystem, diversity of flora and fauna and economic wealth due to such forest fires;
- (d) whether there is lackadaisical approach in preventing and tackling the forest fires and if so, the response of the Government thereto; and
- (e) whether the Government has formulated any scheme to reduce or stop incidents of forest fires in the country and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) Forest Fires occur every year during summer due to various natural and anthropogenic reasons. Forest Survey of India, Dehradun, disseminates the satellite based forest fire alerts  to  the  State  Forest  Departments  and  other  registered  mobile  users  whenever forest fires are detected. Detail of forest fire alerts issued to all State/ Union Territory Forest Departments during last three years is given in Annexure-I.
- (b) 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.
- (c) As per the report received from the various State/UT Governments, the details of loss of economic wealth, death of wildlife, death of humans, area affected due to forest fire and number of incidents reported due to forest fire are as follows:
- (d) & (e) No Sir. National Action Plan on Forest Fire was prepared by the ministry after several rounds of consultation with all the State Forest Departments and other stakeholders. The  objective  of  this  Plan  is  to  minimize  forest  fires  by  informing,  enabling  and empowering forest fringe communities and incentivizing them to work in tandem with the  State  Forest  Departments.  The  Plan  also  intends  to  substantially  reduce  the vulnerability of forests across the diverse forest ecosystems in the country against fire hazards, enhance the capabilities of forest personnel and institutions in fighting fires, and speed up recovery after a fire event.

|   S. No | Year              | No. of forest fire alert as per FSI   |   Area affected (in hectare) |   Economic loss (Rs. in Lakh) |   Death of wildlife |   Death of Humans |
|---------|-------------------|---------------------------------------|------------------------------|-------------------------------|---------------------|-------------------|
|       1 | 2017              | 35,888                                |                      99541.6 |                        373.45 |                   0 |                 0 |
|       2 | 2018              | 37,059                                |                      70503.4 |                        495.78 |                   0 |                21 |
|       3 | 2019 (till June ) | 28,252                                |                      10297.5 |                        130.65 |                   0 |                 1 |

Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change  is  the  Nodal  Ministry  for disaster management caused by forest fire, water pollution and hazardous substances in the country. A Crisis Management Committee has been constituted in the Ministry under  the  Chairmanship  of  Secretary.  For  the  supervision  and  review  of  forest  fire management,  a  Central  Monitoring  Committee  has  also  been  constituted  under  the Chairmanship of Secretary and represented by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests of all States and Union Territories. Nodal Officer for forest fire prevention and control has been appointed in all the States.

Forest Survey of India has been made responsible to keep constant vigil on forest fire across  the  country  and  send  forest  fire  alerts  on  registered  mobile  numbers  in  the States.  Till  date  around  50,000  users  have  been  registered  to  receive  the  fire  alerts from Forest Survey of India.

Since  forests  are  managed  by  the  State  Forest  Departments,  responsibility  of  forest fire prevention and management lies primarily with the respective State Governments. Ministry supports the efforts of State/Union Territory Governments in prevention and control of forest fire  by  providing financial assistance for  various forest fire prevention  and  management  measures  under  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Forest  Fire Prevention  and  Management  Scheme.  State  Government  prepares  Annual  Plan  of Operation  for prevention and management  of  forest fire under this Centrally Sponsored Scheme and funds are released as per the Guideline of the Scheme. A sum of  Rs.125  Crore (Rupees one hundred twenty-five Crore) have been released to the States in last three years under this scheme.

In  addition,  Compensatory Afforestation  Fund Rules 2018 provide for utilization of net  present  value  component  of  the  fund  for  capacity  building  and  providing appropriate  firefighting  equipment  to  forest  fire  fighting  squads  and  activities  for forest fire management in the States.

******

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 4512 DUE FOR 19.07.2019 REGARDING FOREST FIRES ASKED  BY  SHRI  JANARDAN  MISHRA,  DR.  M.K.  VISHNU  PRASAD  AND  SHRI RODMAL NAGAR

## FOREST FIRE ALERTS

| S. No.   | States/UTs               | 2016   | 2017   | 2018   |
|----------|--------------------------|--------|--------|--------|
| 1        | Andaman &Nicobar Islands | 24     | 8      | 3      |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh           | 1699   | 1877   | 1785   |
| 3        | Arunachal Pradesh        | 293    | 733    | 491    |
| 4        | Assam                    | 1766   | 1877   | 1660   |
| 5        | Bihar                    | 321    | 272    | 223    |
| 6        | Chandigarh               | -      | 1      | 0      |
| 7        | Chhattisgarh             | 2808   | 4373   | 3331   |
| 8        | Dadra &Nagar Haveli      | -      | 0      | 0      |
| 9        | Daman &Diu               | -      | 0      | 0      |
| 10       | Delhi                    | 2      | 5      | 4      |
| 11       | Goa                      | 10     | 32     | 9      |
| 12       | Gujarat                  | 262    | 574    | 572    |
| 13       | Haryana                  | 43     | 185    | 43     |
| 14       | Himachal Pradesh         | 199    | 170    | 748    |
| 15       | Jammu & Kashmir          | 217    | 113    | 742    |
| 16       | Jharkhand                | 740    | 1133   | 666    |
| 17       | Karnataka                | 831    | 1333   | 1068   |
| 18       | Kerala                   | 165    | 456    | 128    |
| 19       | Lakshadweep              | -      | 0      | 0      |
| 20       | Madhya Pradesh           | 2675   | 4781   | 4929   |
| 21       | Maharashtra              | 1874   | 3487   | 3919   |
| 22       | Manipur                  | 1105   | 1094   | 1606   |
| 23       | Meghalaya                | 966    | 1454   | 1664   |
| 24       | Mizoram                  | 1318   | 1587   | 2339   |
| 25       | Nagaland                 | 678    | 930    | 935    |
| 26       | Odisha                   | 2763   | 4416   | 3735   |
| 27       | Puducherry               | -      | 9      | 4      |
| 28       | Punjab                   | 45     | 320    | 487    |
| 29       | Rajasthan                | 66     | 260    | 292    |
| 30       | Sikkim                   | -      | 8      | 1      |
| 31       | Tamil Nadu               | 113    | 301    | 221    |
| 32       | Telangana                | 1154   | 1748   | 1918   |
| 33       | Tripura                  | 346    | 431    | 861    |
| 34       | Uttar Pradesh            | 691    | 1170   | 1165   |
| 35       | Uttarakhand              | 1501   | 376    | 1385   |
| 36       | West Bengal              | 142    | 364    | 125    |
|          | Grand Total              | 24,817 | 35,888 | 37,059 |