(a) the number of forest fire incidents in the country during the last two years, State-wise;
(b) the details of casualties and the number of wild animals perished alongwith the extent of destruction caused by such fire incidents; and
(c) the steps taken by the Government to prevent such fires in future?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT & FORESTS (SHRI DILIP SINGH JU DEV)
(a) The number of fire incidents, as per the Forestry Statistics India – 2001, a publication by Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education during the year 1998-99 and 1999-2000 are given in annexure.
(b) As per Ministry’s estimate the annual loss on account of forest fires in the country is around Rs. 570 Crores. This does not include the loss caused by forest fires to biodiversity and habitat, soil fertility, forest regeneration etc. No major loss of wildlife has been reported. However, some losses in terms of destruction of habitat, nests, eggs etc. do take place which are difficult to quantify. As per the report received from State Forest Department, Uttranchal, 11 people died and 3 sustained injuries while fighting the fire during current year. As per the information received from State Forest Department, Himachal Pradesh, 5 labours lost their lives and one leopard is reported to have died due to forest fire.
(c) Ministry is providing financial assistance to the State Governments to take effective measures to prevent and control forest fires.
Annexure reffered to in reply to part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.2912 for answer on 11.08.2003 regarding `Losses due to Forest Fires`
Sr. No States / Uts No. of cases No. of cases reported reported (during 1999-00) (during 1998-99)
1 Andhra Pradesh 52 35 2 Arunachal Pradesh 1 Nil 3 Bihar Nil Nil 4 Goa Nil 1 5 Gujarat 551 526 6 Haryana Nil Nil 7 Himachal Pradesh 441 1902 8 Jammu and Kashmir 369 506 9 Karnataka 33 17 10 Kerala 141 130 11 Madhya Pradesh 123 205 12 Maharashtra 1815 1676 13 Meghalaya 1 Nil 14 Mizoram 44 25 15 Manipur 15 12 16 Nagaland Nil Nil 17 Orissa N.A 536 18 Punjab 26 206 19 Rajasthan 37 33 20 Sikkim 171 20 21 Tripura 172 193 22 Tamil Nadu 264 193 23 Uttar Pradesh 581 N.A 24 West Bengal 25 13 25 A & N Island 1 Nil 26 Chandigarh Nil Nil 27 D & N Haveli 7 11
Total 4870 6240
N.A - Not Available