Lok Sabha Question No. 3133 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-06
Subject: Forest Fires in Telangana
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Anumula Revanth Reddy

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3133

TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.08.2021

## Forest Fires in Telangana

## 3133. SHRI ANUMULA REVANTH REDDY:

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

- (a) whether the instances of forest fires in Telangana have increased due to which several hectares of forest land has been burnt down;
- (b) if so, the details of forest fires in the State during the last five years;
- (c) whether there have been several reports of fires in the Amrabad Tiger Reserve in the last five years thus endangering the flora and fauna of the area including the national animal of the country;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and
- (e) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  curb  incidents  of  forest  fire  in  Telangana especially in Amrabad Tiger Reserve?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) to (d) 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. The Forest Survey  of  India  (FSI)  sends  forest  fire  alerts  to  all  registered  users  on  this  alert system. The number of forest fire alerts sent by FSI during last five fire seasons in the State of Telangana is given in Annexure-I , and forest fire alerts for Amrabad Tiger Reserve, Telangana is given in Annexure-II.

As  per  the  report  received  from  the  Government  of  Telangana,  ground  fire  was observed with no damage to existing flora and fauna including the National Animal i.e. Tiger in Amrabad Tiger Reserve.

- (e) The responsibility of forest fire prevention and management lies primarily with the respective  State/UT.  The  Ministry  supports  the  efforts  of  the  States/  UTs  in prevention  and  control  of  forest  fire  by  providing  financial  assistance  for  various

forest  fire  prevention  and  management  measures  such  as  modern  tools  for  fire extinguishing, use of communication and information technology, etc creation and maintenance of fire lines in forest  areas,  engagement  of fire watchers,  creation  of water  storage  structures  in  forest  areas,  strengthening  of  forest  infrastructure, procurement of firefighting equipment, soil and moisture conservation works in high risk  areas,  awareness  creation,  incentivizing  villages/communities  for  protection against  forest  fire  etc.  under  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Forest  Fire  Prevention  and Management Scheme. In addition, the FSI has taken following steps to improve the forest fire alert system:-

- (i) FSI has pursued with States/UTs to increase the number of registered users of its  alert  system.  Now,  the  number  of  such  registered  users  has  increased  to around 1.30 lakh.
- (ii) FSI also generates and disseminates 'Weekly Early-Warning Alerts' of forest fire to concerned States/UTs.
- (iii) FSI has also initiated an innovative 'Large Forest Fire Monitoring' programme in January 2019 which aims at improving tactical as well as strategic response to large forest fires by the respective States/UTs.

In  addition to above initiatives by  FSI, the Government has constituted a national level committee under the Chairmanship of Secretary of the Ministry that oversees the  issues  arising  out  of  forest  fire.  The  committee  has  advised  all  states  to  take several measures including constituting State-level Monitoring Committee on Forest Fire, preparing State Action Plan on Forest Fire, and Fire Risk Zonation mapping.

As per the report received from the Government of Telangana, the following steps have been taken by the State Government to combat forest fire incidents, including Amrabad Tiger Reserve:-

- a. Around  11000  km  of  Cattle  Proof  Trench  (CPT)  has  been  taken  up throughout the state in the last five years which not only helps in protection and  improvement of soil  moisture regime  but  also  acts  as  a  fire  break.  In case  of  Amrabad  Tiger  Reserve  (TR),  732  kms.  of  Cattle  Proof  Trench (CPT) has been dug up.
- b. The  field  officers  were  provided  the  list  of  fire  vulnerable  forest  areas obtained through spatial analysis to effectively plan creation and maintenance of the fire lines and also to take up other mitigative measures. Around 15000 km Fire lines has been completed till 2020-21 throughout the State,  and  total  1200  km  of  fire  lines  with  five  meter  width  have  been created and maintained in the Amrabad Tiger Reserve.
- c. Apart  from  the  existing  base  camp  watchers  and  strike  force  members, additional  fire  watchers  &  45  Quick  response  teams  were  engaged  in  the highly  vulnerable  areas  for  four  months  in  hired  vehicles  as  per  need  for faster  movement,  apart  from  carrying  out  awareness  campaign  in  the villages.
- d. A  total  of  52  numbers  of  watch  towers  have  been  constructed  at  vantage points  to  locate  and  monitor  forest  fires  throughout  the  State  and  12 numbers watch towers have been constructed for Amrabad Tiger Reserve.

## ANNEXURE-I

ANNEXURE  REFFERED  TO  PART  (a)  to  (d)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3133 DUE FOR REPLY ON 06.08.2021 REGARDING FOREST FIRES IN TELANGANA.

Number of forest fire alerts in Telangana by FSI using SNPP-VIIRS sensors (This includes large, continuous and repeated forest fires) during last five years

| State     |   Jan 2017 to June 2017 |   Jan 2018 to June 2018 |   Nov 2018 to June 2019 |   Nov 2019 to June 2020 |   Nov 2020 to June 2021 |
|-----------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|
| Telangana |                   12927 |                   13721 |                   15262 |                   12132 |                   18237 |

## ANNEXURE-II

ANNEXURE  REFFERED  TO  PART  (a),  (b)  &  (c)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3133 DUE FOR REPLY ON 06.08.2021 REGARDING FOREST FIRES IN TELANGANA.

Number of forest fire alerts in Amrabad Tiger Reserve Circle (Boundary provided by Telangana Forest  Department)  by  FSI  using  SNPP-VIIRS  sensors  (This  includes  large,  continuous  and repeated forest fires) during last five years

***

|                              | SNPP-VIIRS Alerts     | SNPP-VIIRS Alerts     | SNPP-VIIRS Alerts     | SNPP-VIIRS Alerts     | SNPP-VIIRS Alerts     | SNPP-VIIRS Alerts     |
|------------------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|
| Amrabad Tiger Reserve Circle | Jan 2017 to June 2017 | Jan 2018 to June 2018 | Nov 2018 to June 2019 | Nov 2019 to June 2020 | Nov 2020 to June 2021 | Nov 2020 to June 2021 |
|                              |                       |                       | 930                   | 888                   |                       |                       |
|                              |                       | 861                   |                       |                       |                       |                       |
|                              | 390                   |                       |                       |                       |                       |                       |
|                              |                       |                       |                       |                       | 1423                  | 1423                  |