Lok Sabha Question No. 2513 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-18
Subject: Forest Fires Incidents
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Adala Prabhakara Reddy, Vishnu Dayal Ram, Kanakmal Katara, Goddeti Madhavi

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2513

TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.12.2023

## Forest Fires Incidents

## 2513. SHRI ADALA PRABHAKARA REDDY:

SHRI VISHNU DAYAL RAM:

SHRI KANAKMAL KATARA:

SHRIMATI GODDETI MADHAVI:

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

- (a) whether the forests are being intentionally destroyed on a large scale in various parts of the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has taken or proposes to take stringent action against the persons intentionally getting engaged in the said activities;
- (c) whether the cases of forest fires have increased in Jharkhand in the last four years and if
- so, the details thereof, district-wise and year-wise;
- (d) whether the Government has made any efforts to identify the causes of such forest fires and corrective measures taken to reduce such incidents;
- (e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (f) whether any survey has been conducted to estimate the loss of flora and fauna due to the  forest  fires  in  the  country  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  if  not,  the  reasons therefor; and
- (g) 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) and (b).The Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehradun, has been carrying out the assessment of forest  cover  of  the  country  biennially,  and  the  findings  are  published  in  India  State  of  Forest Report (ISFR). As per ISFR 2021, the total forest cover of the country is 7,13,789 square kilometre which is 21.71% of the geographical area of the country. The trend for the last three ISFRs shows an  increase  in  Forest  cover  of  the  country.  The  forest  cover  has  increased  by  3,976  square kilometre  between  ISFR  2017  and  ISFR  2019  assessment  while  there  is  an  increase  of  1,540 square kilometre between ISFR 2019 and ISFR 2021 assessment. The State wise details of change in Forest Cover between ISFR 2017, ISFR 2019 and ISFR 2021 are given in Annexure-I.

Protection  of  forests  are  being  undertaken  under  the  provisions  of  Indian  Forest  Act,  1927, Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and rules made there under, and also under State Specific Acts and Rules.

(c) The Forest Survey of India (FSI), disseminates the satellite-based forest fire alerts to the State Forest  Departments  and  other  registered  mobile  users  whenever  forest  fires  are  detected.  The district wise number of forest fire detected using satellite data in the last four years in the State of Jharkhand are given in Annexure-II.

(d)  and  (e)  Forest  fires  do  occur  every  year  during  summer  months  due  to  various  natural  and anthropogenic reasons including accumulation of inflammable materials such as dry leaves, twigs, pine needles etc. Most of the forest fires in the country are ground fires in which ground vegetation etc. get burnt.

(f) The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun 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 caused due to forest  fire in per hectare basis in Uttarakhand  and Madhya Pradesh to understand the long-term economic and ecological impacts of forest fires on flora and fauna.

(g) The Ministry supports the efforts of the States/ UTs in prevention and control of forest fire by providing financial assistance under the Centrally Sponsored Forest Fire Prevention and Management  Scheme,  Development  of  Wildlife  Habitats,  and  under  CAMPA.  These  schemes support various forest fire prevention and mitigation activities including, creation and maintenance of  fire  lines  and  water  conservation  structures  inside  forest  areas,  procurement  of  firefighting equipment,  incentivizing  villages/communities  for  protection  against  forest  fire  etc.  Further,  the forest  fire  prevention  and  its  management  is  primarily  the  responsibility  of  concerned  State Governments /UT Administration.

****

Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) & (b) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2513 due for reply on 18.12.2023 by Shri Adala Prabhakara Reddy, Shri Vishnu Dayal Ram, Shri Kanakmal Katara and Shrimati Goddeti Madhavi regarding 'Forest Fires Incidents'

State/UTs wise details of change in Forest Cover from ISFR 2017 to ISFR 2021

(Area in Square Kilometre)

| States/UTs        | Geographical area   | Forest Cover   | Forest Cover   | Forest Cover   | Change in Forest Cover between ISFR 2017 & ISFR 2019 (b-a) Percentage Change Cover ISFR ISFR   |                                         |
|-------------------|---------------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| States/UTs        | Geographical area   | ISFR 2017 (a)  | ISFR 2019 (b)  | ISFR 2021 (c)  |                                                                                                | (%) in Forest between 2019 & 2021 (c-b) |
| Andhra Pradesh    | 1,62,968            | 28,147         | 29,137         | 29,784         | 1,637                                                                                          | 5.82                                    |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 83,743              | 66,964         | 66,688         | 66,431         | -533                                                                                           | -0.80                                   |
| Assam             | 78,438              | 28,105         | 28,327         | 28,312         | 207                                                                                            | 0.74                                    |
| Bihar             | 94,163              | 7,299          | 7,306          | 7,381          | 82                                                                                             | 1.12                                    |
| Chhattisgarh      | 1,35,192            | 55,547         | 55,611         | 55,717         | 170                                                                                            | 0.31                                    |
| Delhi             | 1,483               | 192.41         | 195.44         | 195            | 3                                                                                              | 1.35                                    |
| Goa               | 3,702               | 2,229          | 2,237          | 2,244          | 15                                                                                             | 0.67                                    |
| Gujarat           | 1,96,244            | 14,757         | 14,857         | 14,926         | 169                                                                                            | 1.15                                    |
| Haryana           | 44,212              | 1,588          | 1,602          | 1,603          | 15                                                                                             | 0.94                                    |
| Himachal Pradesh  | 55,673              | 15,100         | 15,434         | 15,443         | 343                                                                                            | 2.27                                    |
| Jharkhand         | 79,716              | 23,553         | 23,611         | 23,721         | 168                                                                                            | 0.71                                    |
| Karnataka         | 1,91,791            | 37,550         | 38,575         | 38,730         | 1,180                                                                                          | 3.14                                    |
| Kerala            | 38,852              | 20,321         | 21,144         | 21,253         | 932                                                                                            | 4.59                                    |
| Madhya Pradesh    | 3,08,252            | 77,414         | 77,482         | 77,493         | 79                                                                                             | 0.10                                    |
| Maharashtra       | 3,07,713            | 50,682         | 50,778         | 50,798         | 116                                                                                            | 0.23                                    |
| Manipur           | 22,327              | 17,346         | 16,847         | 16,598         | -748                                                                                           | -4.31                                   |
| Meghalaya         | 22,429              | 17,146         | 17,119         | 17,046         | -100                                                                                           | -0.58                                   |
| Mizoram           | 21,081              | 18,186         | 18,006         | 17,820         | -366                                                                                           | -2.01                                   |
| Nagaland          | 16,579              | 12,489         | 12,486         | 12,251         | -238                                                                                           | -1.91                                   |
| Odisha            | 1,55,707            | 51,345         | 51,619         | 52,156         | 811                                                                                            | 1.58                                    |
| Punjab            | 50,362              | 1,837          | 1,849          | 1,847          | 10                                                                                             | 0.54                                    |
| Rajasthan         | 3,42,239            | 16,572         | 16,630         | 16,655         | 83                                                                                             | 0.50                                    |
| Sikkim            | 7,096               | 3,344          | 3,342          | 3,341          | -3                                                                                             | -0.09                                   |
| Tamil Nadu        | 1,30,060            | 26,281         | 26,364         | 26,419         | 138                                                                                            | 0.53                                    |
| Telangana         | 1,12,077            | 20,419         | 20,582         | 21,214         | 795                                                                                            | 3.89                                    |
| Tripura           | 10,486              | 7,726          | 7,726          | 7,722          | -4                                                                                             | -0.05                                   |
| Uttar Pradesh     | 2,40,928            | 14,679         | 14,806         | 14,818         | 139                                                                                            | 0.95                                    |
| Uttarakhand       | 53,483              | 24,295         | 24,303         | 24,305         | 10                                                                                             | 0.04                                    |
| West Bengal       | 88,752              | 16,847         | 16,902         | 16,832         | -15                                                                                            | -0.09                                   |
| A&N Islands       | 8,249               | 6,742          | 6,743          | 6,744          | 2                                                                                              | 0.03                                    |
| Chandigarh        | 114                 | 21.56          | 22.03          | 22.88          | 1                                                                                              | 6.12                                    |
| Dadra &Nagar      | 491                 |                |                |                | 0.26                                                                                           | 0.11                                    |
| Haveli #          |                     | 207            | 207            | 227.75         |                                                                                                |                                         |
| Daman &Diu #      | 111                 | 20.49          | 20.49          |                |                                                                                                |                                         |
| Jammu& Kashmir*   |                     |                | 21,358         | 21,387         | 418                                                                                            | 1.80                                    |
| Ladakh            | 2,22,236            | 23,241         | 2,254          | 2,272          |                                                                                                |                                         |
| Lakshadweep       | 30                  | 27.10          | 27.10          | 27.10          | 0.00                                                                                           | 0.00                                    |
| Puducherry        | 490                 | 53.67          | 52.41          | 53.30          | -0.37                                                                                          | -0.70                                   |
| Grand Total       | 32,87,469           | 7,08,273       | 7,12,249       | 7,13,789       | 5,516                                                                                          | 0.78                                    |

Annexure referred to in reply to part (c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2513 due for reply  on  18.12.2023  by  Shri  Adala  Prabhakara  Reddy,  Shri  Vishnu  Dayal  Ram,  Shri Kanakmal Katara and Shrimati Goddeti Madhavi regarding 'Forest Fires Incidents'

District-wise  number  of  forest  fire  detections  by  Forest  Survey  of  India  using  SNPP-VIIRS (Suomi  National  Polar-orbiting  Partnership-  Visible  and  Infrared  Imager  Radiometer  Suite) satellite sensor in the last four years in Jharkhand are:

| Districts      | Number of forest fire detections by SNPP-VIIRS satellite sensor   | Number of forest fire detections by SNPP-VIIRS satellite sensor   | Number of forest fire detections by SNPP-VIIRS satellite sensor   | Number of forest fire detections by SNPP-VIIRS satellite sensor   |
|----------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Districts      | Nov 2019 to June 2020                                             | Nov 2020 to June 2021                                             | Nov 2021 to June 2022                                             | Nov 2022 to June 2023                                             |
| Bokaro         | 43                                                                | 568                                                               | 191                                                               | 474                                                               |
| Chatra         | 63                                                                | 1264                                                              | 475                                                               | 481                                                               |
| Deoghar        | 0                                                                 | 35                                                                | 11                                                                | 28                                                                |
| Dhanbad        | 6                                                                 | 166                                                               | 32                                                                | 207                                                               |
| Dumka          | 156                                                               | 476                                                               | 144                                                               | 422                                                               |
| East singhbhum | 262                                                               | 1136                                                              | 242                                                               | 1005                                                              |
| Garhwa         | 26                                                                | 1433                                                              | 824                                                               | 213                                                               |
| Giridih        | 9                                                                 | 553                                                               | 167                                                               | 392                                                               |
| Godda          | 191                                                               | 436                                                               | 509                                                               | 452                                                               |
| Gumla          | 62                                                                | 790                                                               | 468                                                               | 470                                                               |
| Hazaribagh     | 271                                                               | 1951                                                              | 858                                                               | 708                                                               |
| Jamtara        | 2                                                                 | 22                                                                | 0                                                                 | 29                                                                |
| Khunti         | 8                                                                 | 598                                                               | 142                                                               | 215                                                               |
| Kodarma        | 29                                                                | 753                                                               | 296                                                               | 402                                                               |
| Latehar        | 86                                                                | 2180                                                              | 1805                                                              | 800                                                               |
| Lohardaga      | 59                                                                | 399                                                               | 316                                                               | 271                                                               |
| Pakaur         | 51                                                                | 170                                                               | 134                                                               | 183                                                               |
| Palamau        | 13                                                                | 963                                                               | 610                                                               | 302                                                               |
| Ramgarh        | 193                                                               | 487                                                               | 322                                                               | 302                                                               |
| Ranchi         | 55                                                                | 906                                                               | 229                                                               | 460                                                               |
| Sahibganj      | 201                                                               | 597                                                               | 673                                                               | 455                                                               |
| Saraikela      | 58                                                                | 810                                                               | 74                                                                | 282                                                               |
| Simdega        | 1                                                                 | 467                                                               | 56                                                                | 531                                                               |
| West Singhbhum | 768                                                               | 4553                                                              | 841                                                               | 2839                                                              |
| Total          | 2613                                                              | 21713                                                             | 9419                                                              | 11923                                                             |

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