Lok Sabha Question No. 1930 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-29
Subject: Forest Fire
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Jagdambika Pal

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 1930 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.11.2019

## Forest Fire

## 1930.  SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL:

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

- (a) the total number of forest fire breakout cases during the current year along with the estimated loss therefrom in the country, State/UT-wise; and
- (b) the corrective measures taken by the Government to combat forest fires in the country?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) State/UT  wise  details  of  total  number  of  forest  fire  cases  with  estimated  loss during the current year are given in Annexure.
- (b) Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change  has  prepared  a  National Action Plan on Forest Fire in April 2018 after several rounds of consultation with all  the  States  and  UTs.  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.

The Ministry is the nodal ministry for disaster management caused by forest fire, water pollution and hazardous substances in the country. Nodal Officers for forest fire  prevention  and  control  have  been  appointed  in  all  States/UTs.  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 been constituted in the ministry under the Chairmanship of Secretary. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests of all States and Union Territories are members of this Committee.

Forest Survey of India, Dehradun, an organization under the Ministry disseminates the  satellite-based  forest  fire  alerts  to  the  State  Forest  Departments  and  other registered mobile users whenever forest fires are detected. Till date around 69,000 users have been registered to receive the fire alerts from FSI.

Since  forests  are  managed  by  the  States/UTs,  the  responsibility  of  forest  fire prevention and management lie primarily with the respective State/UT Governments.  The  Ministry  supports  the  efforts  of  State/UT  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. Accordingly, State/UT Governments prepare Annual Plan of Operation for prevention and management of forest fire and funds are released.

In addition to above, funds are provided to the States/UTs for capacity building, providing  appropriate  firefighting  equipment  to  forest  fire  fighting  squads  and activities for forest fire management under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Rules 2018.

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## ANNEXURE  REFFRED  TO  PART  (a)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1930 DUE FOR REPLY ON 29.11.2019 REGARDING FOREST FIRE ASKED BY SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL

## DETAILS OF FOREST FIRE INCIDENTS REPORTED AND ESTIMATED LOSS IN 2019

|   States | States              | No. of Incidents Reported   | Estimated Loss (Rs. In Lakhs)   |
|----------|---------------------|-----------------------------|---------------------------------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh      | 530                         | 0.00**                          |
|        2 | Arunachal Pradesh   | 13                          | 0.00**                          |
|        3 | Assam               | 0                           | -                               |
|        4 | Bihar               | 490                         | 0.00**                          |
|        5 | Chandigarh          | 0                           | -                               |
|        6 | Chhattisgarh        | 17506                       | 0.00**                          |
|        7 | Dadar &Nagar Haveli | 0                           | -                               |
|        8 | Daman &Diu          | 0                           | -                               |
|        9 | Delhi               | 5                           | 0.00**                          |
|       10 | Goa                 | 10                          | 0.00**                          |
|       11 | Gujarat             | 490                         | 5.52                            |
|       12 | Haryana             | 08                          | 13.92                           |
|       13 | Himachal Pradesh    | 855                         | 81.90                           |
|       14 | J&K                 | 281                         | 0.00**                          |
|       15 | Jharkhand           | 7501*                       | 0.00**                          |
|       16 | Karnataka           | 169                         | 0.00**                          |
|       17 | Kerala              | 581                         | 1.45                            |
|       18 | Madhya Pradesh      | 4609                        | 0.00**                          |
|       19 | Maharashtra         | 6223                        | 54.51                           |
|       20 | Manipur             | 11                          | 0.00                            |
|       21 | Meghalaya           | 1054                        | 0.00**                          |
|       22 | Mizoram             | 12                          | 0.00                            |
|       23 | Nagaland            | 0                           | -                               |
|       24 | Lakshadweep         | 0                           | -                               |
|       25 | Odisha              | 19787                       | 0.00**                          |
|       26 | Puducherry          | 0                           | -                               |
|       27 | Punjab              | 69                          | 1.09                            |
|       28 | Rajasthan           | 394                         | 12.07                           |
|       29 | Sikkim              | 56                          | 0.00**                          |
|       30 | Tamil Nadu          | 1605                        | 0.00**                          |
|       31 | Telangana           | 13900*                      | 0.00                            |
|       32 | Tripura             | 3                           | 0.00**                          |
|       33 | Uttar Pradesh       | 677                         | 4.71                            |
|       34 | Uttarakhand         | 2150                        | 55.72                           |
|       35 | West Bengal         | 124                         | 5.32                            |