Lok Sabha Question No. 2001 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-19
Subject: Forest Fires
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Adala Prabhakara Reddy

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2001

TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.12.2022

## Forest Fires

## 2001. SHRI ADALA PRABHAKARA REDDY:

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

- (a) whether the cases of forest fires in the country have increased during the last three years and if so, the details thereof, State-wise;
- (b) whether any study has been conducted to ascertain the causal factors for the fires and if so, the details and the outcome thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether any survey has been undertaken to estimate the loss of flora and fauna due to the fires and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (d) the steps taken by the Government to curb the recurrence of forest fires?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a) & (b)   The number of incidences of forest fire in the country varies from  year to year depending  on  various  natural  and  anthropogenic  reasons.  Forest  fires  do  occur  every  year during summer due to various natural and anthropogenic reasons including accumulation of inflammable materials such as dry leaves, twigs, pine needles etc. These factors have also been highlighted in a joint study by Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change and the  World  Bank.  Most  of  the  forest  fires  in  the  country  are  ground  fires  in  which  ground vegetation etc. get burnt. Further, the Forest Survey of India (FSI), 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. The State/UT-wise number of  forest  fire  detected  by  FSI  using  Moderate  Resolution  imaging  Spectro-Radiometer (MODIS) sensor aboard Aqua & Terra satellites and SNPP-VIIRS (Suomi National Polarorbiting  Partnership  -  Visible  and  lnfrared  lmager/Radiometer  Suite)  sensor  in  forest  fire season during last three years is given in Annexure-I .

(c)& (d) The  Ministry  through  Indian  Council  of Forestry  Research  and  Education (ICFRE) 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 has conducted a pilot study on Estimation of Economic Losses in Real  Term  per  Hectare  basis  due  to  Forest  Fire  in  Uttarakhand  and  Madhya  Pradesh  to understand  the  long-term  economic  and  ecological  impacts  of  forest  fires  on  flora  and fauna.Further,  Forest  fire  prevention  and  its  management  is  primarily  the  responsibility  of concerned  State  Governments  /UT  Administration  and  respective  States/  UTs  undertake various  activities  under  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Forest  Fire  Prevention  and  Management Scheme, Integrated Development of Wildlife, and under CAMPA fundsuch as creation and maintenance of fire lines and water conservation structures inside forest areas, procurement of  firefighting  equipment,  awareness  creation,  and  incentivizing  villages/communities  for protection against forest fire etc.In addition,the Ministry has constituted Central Monitoring Committee  to  review  the  preparedness  of  States/UTs  regarding  Forest  Fire  Management acrossthe country, and for overseeing the implementation of National Action Plan of Forest Fire.

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## Annexure-I

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO PART (A) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2001 DUE FOR REPLY ON 19.12.2022 REGARDING FOREST FIRES.

State/UT-wise  number  of  forest  fire  detected  by  Forest  Survey  of  India  using  MODIS  &  SNPP-VIIRS sensors in the last three years. (This includes large, continuous and repeated forest fires)

| S.No.   |                                 | MODIS Detections      | MODIS Detections      | MODIS Detections      | SNPP-VIIRS Detections   | SNPP-VIIRS Detections   | SNPP-VIIRS Detections   |
|---------|---------------------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|
| S.No.   | State/UT                        | Nov 2019 to June 2020 | Nov 2020 to June 2021 | Nov 2021 to June 2022 | Nov 2019 to June 2020   | Nov 2020 to June 2021   | Nov 2021 to June 2022   |
| 1       | Andaman &Nicobar Islands        | 15                    | 2                     | 3                     | 39                      | 16                      | 33                      |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh                  | 1,080                 | 2,888                 | 1,716                 | 9,996                   | 19,328                  | 14,138                  |
| 3       | Arunachal Pradesh               | 660                   | 1,109                 | 1,116                 | 1,786                   | 3,914                   | 3,449                   |
| 4       | Assam                           | 3,000                 | 3,387                 | 2,305                 | 8,924                   | 10,718                  | 8,158                   |
| 5       | Bihar                           | 50                    | 537                   | 222                   | 614                     | 5,179                   | 3,024                   |
| 6       | Chandigarh                      | 0                     | 0                     | 0                     | 2                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 7       | Chhattisgarh                    | 416                   | 3,112                 | 1,942                 | 6,360                   | 38,106                  | 25,792                  |
| 8       | Dadra &Nagar Haveli             | 1                     | 3                     | 1                     | 21                      | 33                      | 15                      |
| 9       | Daman &Diu                      | 0                     | 0                     | 0                     | 0                       | 1                       | 3                       |
| 10      | Delhi                           | 3                     | 5                     | 5                     | 21                      | 14                      | 3                       |
| 11      | Goa                             | 4                     | 10                    | 5                     | 47                      | 45                      | 20                      |
| 12      | Gujarat                         | 202                   | 422                   | 236                   | 2,770                   | 3,803                   | 2,769                   |
| 13      | Haryana                         | 39                    | 25                    | 37                    | 68                      | 152                     | 135                     |
| 14      | Himachal Pradesh                | 80                    | 533                   | 601                   | 536                     | 4,110                   | 5,280                   |
| 15      | Jammu &Kashmir including Ladakh | 62                    | 131                   | 524                   | 438                     | 1,098                   | 4,282                   |
| 16      | Jharkhand                       | 101                   | 1,563                 | 630                   | 2,613                   | 21,713                  | 9,419                   |
| 17      | Karnataka                       | 538                   | 932                   | 800                   | 4,232                   | 5,784                   | 4,973                   |
| 18      | Kerala                          | 142                   | 51                    | 61                    | 864                     | 296                     | 504                     |
| 19      | Lakshadweep                     | 0                     | 0                     | 0                     | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 20      | Madhya Pradesh                  | 1,383                 | 7,103                 | 3,908                 | 9,537                   | 47,795                  | 32,728                  |
| 21      | Maharashtra                     | 1,102                 | 4,297                 | 2,309                 | 14,018                  | 34,025                  | 22,052                  |
| 22      | Manipur                         | 2,475                 | 3,252                 | 1,638                 | 8,800                   | 10,457                  | 5,544                   |
| 23      | Meghalaya                       | 1,826                 | 2,052                 | 1,431                 | 6,762                   | 7,658                   | 6,322                   |
| 24      | Mizoram                         | 2,816                 | 4,345                 | 2,105                 | 7,361                   | 12,846                  | 8,734                   |
| 25      | Nagaland                        | 1,248                 | 1,726                 | 1,309                 | 2,905                   | 4,975                   | 3,471                   |
| 26      | Odisha                          | 1,326                 | 5,307                 | 2,086                 | 10,602                  | 51,968                  | 22,014                  |
| 27      | Puducherry                      | 1                     | 1                     | 0                     | 0                       | 1                       | 0                       |
| 28      | Punjab                          | 52                    | 171                   | 128                   | 153                     | 635                     | 428                     |
| 29      | Rajasthan                       | 420                   | 447                   | 238                   | 3,461                   | 3,402                   | 2,703                   |
| 30      | Sikkim                          | 5                     | 17                    | 11                    | 47                      | 63                      | 26                      |
| 31      | Tamil Nadu                      | 187                   | 202                   | 151                   | 1,368                   | 1,220                   | 1,035                   |
| 32      | Telangana                       | 1,042                 | 2,566                 | 1,372                 | 12,132                  | 18,237                  | 13,737                  |
| 33      | Tripura                         | 1,467                 | 1,664                 | 310                   | 4,369                   | 5,015                   | 2,609                   |
| 34      | Uttar Pradesh                   | 396                   | 1,667                 | 905                   | 1,548                   | 8,608                   | 5,428                   |
| 35      | Uttarakhand                     | 167                   | 548                   | 233                   | 759                     |                         | 1,520                   |
| 36      | West Bengal                     | 141                   | 2,710                 | 1,337                 |                         | 21,487 3,287            | 12,985                  |
|         | Total                           | 22,447                | 52,785                | 29,675                | 1,320 1,24,473          | 3,45,989                | 2,23,333                |