Lok Sabha Question No. 1610 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-07-26
Subject: Forest Fires
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH, YOGI ADITYANATH, KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL, KIRTI (JHA) AZAD, KIRIT PREMJIBHAI SOLANKI

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1610

TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.07.2016

## Forest Fires

## 1610. SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH:

SHRI YOGI ADITYA NATH:

SHRI KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL:

SHRI KIRTI AZAD:

DR. KIRIT P. SOLANKI:

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

- (a) whether incidents of forest fires have been reported from various parts of the country and if so, the details thereof, State/ UT-wise;
- (b) the details of human lives lost/public properties and forest wealth damaged due to the said forest fires during each of the last three years and the current year; State-wise;
- (c) whether the Government proposes to set up any Committee to ascertain the reasons for such forest fires in various parts of the country including the Himalayan region and if so, the details and outcome thereof;
- (d)  whether  the  Government  has  provided  financial  assistance  to  the  States  to  prevent  and check the forest fires and if so, the details thereof during the said period, State-wise; and
- (e)  the  details  of  the  action  plan/steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  prevent  the occurrence and spread of forest fires in future including making fire line in forests?

## ANSWER

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

## (SHRI ANIL MADHAV DAVE)

- (a) &(b) As  per  the  report  received  from  Forest  Survey  of  India,  Dehradun  the  details  of forest fires that have been reported in the country during the last three years and the current year is given in Annexure-I. The details of human lives lost/public properties and forest wealth damaged due to the forest fires are not maintained in the Ministry.
- (c) The Ministry of Home Affairs vide order dated April 30, 2016 had setup a Central Team of Experts to visit the forest fire affected areas in Uttarakhand and also to take stock of the situation and suggest appropriate measures to combat forest fires. The report  of  the  Central  Team  of  Experts  suggests  that  most  of  the  forest  fires  are caused due to human neglect. The key recommendations of the committee include

wide application of forest management practices such as fire lines, control burning etc, use of operational fire detection system, use of improved technology and tools to combat  forest  fires,  Strengthen  mobility  and  communication,  community  outreach activities,  training  and  capacity  building,  use  of  space  technology  for  detection  as well as management of forest fires.

- (d) & (e)  The  Government  of  India  provides  funds  to  State  and  Union  Territory  (UT) Governments  under  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  'Intensification  of  Forest Management Scheme' (IFMS) to supplement their efforts. Forest Fire Control and Management is one of the seven components of the scheme and about one-third of the  funds  are  spent  under  this  component.  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. The funds released to the States and Union Territories under Centrally Sponsored Intensification of Forest Management Scheme is given in Annexure-II.

***

ANNEXURE  REFFERD  TO  IN  PART  (a)  &  (b)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1610  DUE FOR 26.07.2016 ASKED BY SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH, SHRI  YOGI  ADITYA  NATH,  SHRI  KUNWAR  PUSHPENDRA  SINGH  CHANDEL,  SHRI KIRTI AZAD AND DR. KIRIT P. SOLANKI REGARDING FOREST FIRES

## STATE WISE DETAILS OF NUMBER OF FOREST FIRES REPORTED SINCE 2013-14

| S.No.   | STATE                    | 2013   | 2014   |   2015 |   2016 (till June 2016) |
|---------|--------------------------|--------|--------|--------|-------------------------|
| 1.      | Andaman &Nicobar Islands | 9      | 96     |      1 |                      24 |
| 2.      | Andhra Pradesh           | 2143   | 1910   |   1075 |                    1699 |
| 3.      | Arunachal Pradesh        | 501    | 535    |    358 |                     293 |
| 4.      | Assam                    | 1608   | 2536   |   1656 |                    1766 |
| 5.      | Bihar                    | 273    | 140    |     45 |                     321 |
| 6.      | Chandigarh               | 0      | 0      |      0 |                       0 |
| 7.      | Chhattisgarh             | 1530   | 1018   |   1272 |                    2808 |
| 8.      | Dadra &Nagar Haveli      | 3      | 1      |      0 |                       0 |
| 9.      | Daman &Diu               | 0      | 0      |      0 |                       0 |
| 10.     | Delhi                    | 0      | 0      |      0 |                       2 |
| 11.     | Goa                      | 4      | 3      |      0 |                      10 |
| 12.     | Gujarat                  | 179    | 74     |    117 |                     262 |
| 13.     | Haryana                  | 5      | 5      |      6 |                      43 |
| 14.     | Himachal Pradesh         | 34     | 32     |     22 |                     199 |
| 15.     | Jammu &Kashmir           | 23     | 74     |     13 |                     217 |
| 16.     | Jharkhand                | 554    | 202    |    457 |                     740 |
| 17.     | Karnataka                | 606    | 424    |    295 |                     831 |
| 18.     | Kerala                   | 98     | 114    |     91 |                     165 |
| 19.     | Lakshadweep              | 0      | 0      |      0 |                       0 |
| 20.     | Madhya Pradesh           | 753    | 534    |    294 |                    2675 |
| 21.     | Maharashtra              | 1433   | 702    |    721 |                    1874 |
| 22.     | Manipur                  | 1303   | 1774   |   1286 |                    1105 |
| 23.     | Meghalaya                | 804    | 1123   |   1373 |                     966 |
| 24.     | Mizoram                  | 2259   | 2189   |   2468 |                    1318 |
| 25.     | Nagaland                 | 5846   | 886    |    722 |                     678 |
| 26.     | Odisha                   | 2221   | 1904   |   1467 |                    2763 |
| 27.     | Puducherry               | 0      | 0      |      0 |                       0 |
| 28.     | Punjab                   | 36     | 20     |      7 |                      45 |
| 29.     | Rajasthan                | 75     | 53     |     90 |                      66 |
| 30.     | Sikkim                   | 0      | 0      |      3 |                       0 |
| 31.     | Tamil Nadu               | 89     | 284    |     95 |                     113 |
| 32.     | Telangana                |        |        |   1052 |                    1154 |
| 33.     | Tripura                  | 588    | 1160   |    476 |                     346 |
| 34.     | Uttar Pradesh            | 237    | 218    |    130 |                     691 |
| 35.     | Uttarakhand              | 119    | 379    |    207 |                    1501 |
| 36.     | West Bengal              | 118    | 116    |    138 |                     142 |
|         | TOTAL                    | 18451  | 19054  |  15937 |                   24817 |

## ANNEXURE- II

ANNEXURE  REFFERED  TO  PART  (d)  &  (e)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 1610 DUE FOR 26.07.2016 REGARDING FOREST FIRES ASKED BY SHRI KIRTI  VARDHAN  SINGH,  SHRI  YOGI  ADITYA  NATH,  SHRI  KUNWAR  PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL, SHRI KIRTI AZAD AND DR. KIRIT P. SOLANKI

## STATE WISE DETAILS OF FUNDS RELEASED UNDER IFM SCHEME SINCE 2013-14

(In Lakh Rs.)

| S. No.            | States            | 2013-14 Released   | 2014-15 Released   | 2015-16 Released   | 2016-17 Released as on 20.07.2016   |
|-------------------|-------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|-------------------------------------|
| 1                 | 2                 | 3                  | 4                  | 5                  | 6                                   |
| Other States      | Other States      |                    |                    |                    |                                     |
| 1                 | Andhra Pradesh    | 38.21              | 0.00               | 0.00               |                                     |
| 2                 | Bihar             | 43.32              | 0.00               | 59.09              |                                     |
| 3                 | Chhattisgarh      | 253.25             | 411.96             | 120.75             |                                     |
| 4                 | Gujarat           | 345.76             | 349.71             | 179.99             |                                     |
| 5                 | Goa               | 61.17              | 0.00               | 0.00               |                                     |
| 6                 | Haryana           | 153.64             | 149.56             | 77.86              | 93.91                               |
| 7                 | Himachal Pradesh  | 364.41             | 365.90             | 302.16             |                                     |
| 8                 | Jammu &Kashmir    | 105.24             | 0.00               | 193.93             |                                     |
| 9                 | Jharkhand         | 254.88             | 303.03             | 83.62              |                                     |
| 10                | Karnataka         | 324.47             | 266.54             | 228.19             | 203.27                              |
| 11                | Kerala            | 254.76             | 183.76             | 86.00              | 163.65                              |
| 12                | Madhya Pradesh    | 744.16             | 701.07             | 420.00             |                                     |
| 13                | Maharashtra       | 95.96              | 228.02             | 447.32             | 298.06                              |
| 14                | Orissa            | 203.25             | 220.50             | 136.00             | 266.14                              |
| 15                | Punjab            |                    | 0.00               | 77.00              | 0.00                                |
| 16                | Rajasthan         | 145.02             | 205.09             | 112.54             | 174.22                              |
| 17                | Tamil Nadu        |                    | 0.00               | 203.02             |                                     |
| 18                | Telangana         | -                  | 160.73             | 0.00               |                                     |
| 19                | Uttar Pradesh     | 138.29             | 218.36             | 156.15             | 139.72                              |
| 20                | Uttarakhand       | 299.33             | 332.57             | 356.83             |                                     |
| 21                | West Bengal       |                    | 115.46             | 0.00               |                                     |
|                   | Total             | 3825.12            | 4212.26            | 3240.45            | 1338.97                             |
| NE &Sikkim        | NE &Sikkim        |                    |                    |                    |                                     |
| 1                 | Assam             |                    | 0                  | 0                  |                                     |
| 2                 | Arunachal Pradesh |                    | 219.59             | 85.07              |                                     |
| 3                 | Manipur           | 294.86             | 0                  | 240.76             | 100.02                              |
| 4                 | Meghalaya         | 244.83             | 0                  | 180.26             |                                     |
| 5                 | Mizoram           | 284.74             | 256.27             | 153.17             | 131.29                              |
| 6                 | Nagaland          | 145.92             | 225.13             | 122.6              |                                     |
| 7                 | Sikkim            | 166.5              | 162.17             | 150                | 119.73                              |
| 8                 | Tripura           | 131.8              | 243.84             | 147.19             |                                     |
|                   | Total             | 1268.65            | 1107.00            | 1079.05            | 351.04                              |
| Union Territories | Union Territories |                    |                    |                    |                                     |
| 1                 | A &NIslands       | 13.04              |                    | 28.00              |                                     |
| 2                 | Chandigarh        |                    |                    | 36.99              | 16.36                               |
| 3                 | D&N Haveli        |                    |                    | 0.00               |                                     |
| 4                 | Daman &Diu        |                    |                    | 0.00               |                                     |
| 5                 | Lakshadweep       |                    |                    | 0.00               |                                     |
| 6                 | New Delhi         |                    |                    | 0.00               | 50.00                               |
| 7                 | Pondicherry       |                    | 37.77              | 0.00               |                                     |
|                   | Total             | 13.04              | 37.77              | 64.99              | 66.36                               |
|                   | Grand Total       | 5106.81            | 5357.03            | 4384.49890         | 1756.37                             |