Wildfires in Similipal

In News

A recent massive fire has threatened to cause enormous damage to the Similipal Biosphere Reserve, Odisha.

• The fire broke out in isolated places of Similipal in the Mayurbhanj district in the first week of February and now it has finally been brought under control.

About Forest Fires

• It is the most common hazard in forests.
• Causes
  • Natural Factors
    • Such as lightning, rubbing of dried leaves and tree trunks and increasing temperatures can sometimes result in fires.
    • An advanced heatwave with the early onset of summer further deteriorated the condition in Simlipal’s case.
  • Anthropogenic Factors
    • Dropping a burning matchstick, torchwood or a bidi/cigarette.
    • A spark can also be produced when dry pine needles or leaves fall on an electric pole.
    • When temporarily built hearths are left behind with fire, they can lead to massive forest fires.
    • Sometimes the fire spreads to the adjoining forest when people burn their fields to clear them of stubble, dry grass or undergrowth.
• Fuel
  • Surface Level: Fallen tree leaves, dry grass, weeds, low brushwood, deadwood on the forest floor, logs, stumps, etc.
  • Below Surface Level: Decaying materials such as humus, wood, shrubs, roots, much and peat can also support the combustion.
  • Above Surface Level: Dry standing trees, mosses, lichens, dry epiphytic or parasitic plants, and fallen branches can spread the fire to the upper foliage and the tree crowns.
• Concerns
  • Damages the regeneration in the forests and their productivity.
  • Adversely affects the products and capacities provided by the forests.
    • Forests help maintain aquifers and continuous flow of streams and springs, and provide firewood, fodder and non-timber produce to the local communities.
  • Destroys the organic matter in the soil and exposes the top layer to erosion.
  • Impact on the wildlife by burning eggs, killing young animals and driving the adult animals away from their safe haven.
  • Sometimes, these may get out of control and extend to human settlements, thus posing danger to human life and property.
• Prevention
  • Forecasting fire-prone days using meteorological data.
  • Clearing camping sites of dried biomass.
  • Early burning of dry litter on the forest floor.
  • Growing strips of fire-hardy plant species within the forest.
  • Creating fire lines (strips in the forest kept clear of vegetation to prevent the fire from spreading) in the forests.
  • Controlled burns are also used to prevent forest fires.
    • A controlled burn is a wildfire that people set intentionally for a specific purpose. Well-thought-out and well-managed controlled burns can be incredibly beneficial for forest management because they can help stop an out-of-control wildfire.
    • The technique is called backburning and it involves setting a controlled fire in the path of the approaching wildfire.
      • All the flammable material is burnt up and extinguished and when the wildfire approaches, there is no more fuel left for it to keep going, and it dies out.
• Control
  • Early detection and quick action by fire-fighting squads are crucial.
    • For such activities, the forest departments have a fire protection and fire control unit.
  • The best way to control a forest fire is, therefore, to prevent it from spreading, which can be done by creating firebreaks in the shape of small clearings of ditches in the forests.

Forest Fire Management Initiatives in India

• National Action Plan on Forest Fires
  • It focuses on holistic management of forest fire scenarios in the country including fire prevention, fire control, post-fire activities, community mobilization etc.
  • The framework for the preparation of the State Crisis Management Plan and funding provisions from Central schemes, coordination of various agencies are also a part of the Plan.
• Near Real-Time Forest Fire Alerts (FAST 1.0)
  • State Forest Departments are alerted of forest fire locations detected by the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer) sensor onboard Aqua and Terra Satellites of NASA since 2004.
  • From 2017, FSI has incorporated another sensor SNPP-VIIRS (Suomi-National Polar-orbiting Partnership-Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite), which has a good night time detection capability as compared to MODIS and can also detect small fire and under canopy fire.
  • With the launch of “Forest Fire Alert System 2.0”, this entire process has been made completely automated which has effectively reduced the dissemination time lag.
• Forest Fire Pre Warning Alerts
  • In 2016, FSI developed an indigenous “Pre Warning Alert System”.
  • The alerts are based on parameters like Forest Cover, Forest Type, Climatic Variables (Temperature and Rainfall) and recent fire incidents over the area.
  • These alerts which are generated based on short term weather variables, are valid for the ensuing week.
• Burnt Scar Assessment
  • It is important to assess forest areas affected by the forest fires to assess damage to forest and biodiversity as well as to plan restoration measures.
  • In the year 2015 and 2016, high temporal data from Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) AWiFS (Advanced Wide Field Sensor) was used to delineate burnt scars.
    • Presently, FSI is working on developing a semi-automated methodology for burnt area assessment and severity class classification using modern technologies.
• Large Forest Fires Monitoring Programme
  • In 2019, FSI launched the beta version of the Large Forest Fire Monitoring Programme using near-real-time SNPP-VIIRS data.
    • This programme is a part of the FAST 3.0.
  • Herein, FSI tracks large fire events across the country and disseminates specific Large Fire alerts to identify, track and report serious forest fire incidents so as to help monitor them and also seek timely additional assistance.

Source: TH