Lok Sabha Question No. 379 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-04-26
Subject: Forest Fire
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: ELUMALAI VELLAIGOUNDER, SANJAY JAISWAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 379

TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.04.2016

## Forest Fire

## 379. SHRI V. ELUMALAI: DR. SANJAY JAISWAL :

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

- (a)     the details of incidents of forest fires that have been reported in the country during the last three years and the current year;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  formulated  any  policy/guidelines  to  deal  with  such calamities  considering  the  sensitive  nature  of  the  geographies  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- (c)     whether the Government has set up any dedicated task force/team to contain the spread of forest fires and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d)    whether the Government is considering to assist the State Governments to prevent forest fires and if so, the details thereof ?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  (INDEPENDENT  CHARGE)  FOR  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

- (a) As per the report received from Forest Survey of India, the details of incidents of forest fires that have been reported in the country during the last three years and the current year are enclosed as Annexure-I.
- (b) &(c) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has formulated a Contingency Plan for forest fires which deals with the mechanism for coordination during the crisis of a major forest fire. The said plan provides for a Central  Crisis  Group  at  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change chaired by Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and having  representatives  from  Ministry  of  Defence  and  Ministry  of  Health  in addition to other members.
- (d) The  Government  of  India  provides  funds  to  States  and  Union  Territory  (UT) Governments  under  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  'Intensification  of  Forest Management  Scheme'  (IFMS)  to  supplement  their  efforts.    Various  measures taken  by  State/UT  Governments  for  protection  of  forests  from  fires  include creation  and  maintenance  of  fire  lines  in  forest  areas,  engaging  fire  watchers, establishing forest camps, regular patrolling by forest personnel etc. The support of Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) is also taken in this regard.

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## ANNEXURE REFFERD TO IN PART (a) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 379 DUE FOR 26.04.2016 ASKED BY SHRI V. ELUMALAI AND DR. SANJAY JAISWAL REGARDING FOREST FIRE

| S.No.   | STATE                    |   2013 |   2014 |   2015 |   2016 (Till 21.04.2016) |
|---------|--------------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------------------------|
| 1.      | Andaman &Nicobar islands |      9 |     96 |      1 |                        1 |
| 2.      | Andhra Pradesh           |   1245 |   1910 |   1075 |                     1416 |
| 3.      | Arunachal Pradesh        |    501 |    535 |    358 |                      256 |
| 4.      | Assam                    |   1608 |   2536 |   1656 |                     1719 |
| 5.      | Bihar                    |    273 |    140 |     45 |                      301 |
| 6.      | Chandigarh               |      0 |      0 |      0 |                        0 |
| 7.      | Chhattisgarh             |   1530 |   1018 |   1272 |                     2422 |
| 8.      | Dadra &Nagar Haveli      |      3 |      1 |      0 |                        0 |
| 9.      | Daman &Diu               |      0 |      0 |      0 |                        0 |
| 10.     | Delhi                    |      0 |      0 |      0 |                        1 |
| 11.     | Goa                      |      4 |      3 |      0 |                        4 |
| 12.     | Gujarat                  |    179 |     74 |    117 |                      237 |
| 13.     | Haryana                  |      5 |      5 |      6 |                       12 |
| 14.     | Himachal Pradesh         |     34 |     32 |     22 |                       15 |
| 15.     | Jammu &Kashmir           |     23 |     74 |     13 |                        5 |
| 16.     | Jharkhand                |    554 |    202 |    457 |                      615 |
| 17.     | Karnataka                |    606 |    424 |    295 |                      753 |
| 18.     | Kerala                   |     98 |    114 |     91 |                      145 |
| 19.     | Lakshadweep              |      0 |      0 |      0 |                        0 |
| 20.     | Madhya Pradesh           |    753 |    534 |    294 |                     2238 |
| 21.     | Maharashtra              |   1433 |    702 |    721 |                     1638 |
| 22.     | Manipur                  |   1303 |   1774 |   1286 |                     1077 |
| 23.     | Meghalaya                |    804 |   1123 |   1373 |                      960 |
| 24.     | Mizoram                  |   2259 |   2189 |   2468 |                     1312 |
| 25.     | Nagaland                 |    846 |    886 |    722 |                      665 |
| 26.     | Odisha                   |   2221 |   1904 |   1467 |                     2349 |
| 27.     | Puducherry               |      0 |      0 |      0 |                        0 |
| 28.     | Punjab                   |     36 |     20 |      7 |                        3 |
| 29.     | Rajasthan                |     75 |     53 |     90 |                       56 |
| 30.     | Sikkim                   |      0 |      0 |      3 |                        0 |
| 31.     | Tamil Nadu               |     89 |    284 |     95 |                       96 |
| 32.     | Telangana                |    898 |    548 |   1052 |                     1110 |
| 33.     | Tripura                  |    588 |   1160 |    476 |                      346 |
| 34.     | Uttar Pradesh            |    237 |    218 |    130 |                      486 |
| 35.     | Uttarakhand              |    119 |    379 |    207 |                      291 |
| 36.     | West Bengal              |    118 |    116 |    138 |                      138 |
| TOTAL   | TOTAL                    |  18451 |  19054 |  15937 |                    20667 |