(a) whether many States have suffered losses on account of forest fire ;
(b) if so, the details thereof during the last three years and the current year, State-wise ; and
(c) the efforts made by the Government to stop recurrence of such incidents ?
(a) whether many States have suffered losses on account of forest fire ;
(b) if so, the details thereof during the last three years and the current year, State-wise ; and
(c) the efforts made by the Government to stop recurrence of such incidents ?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS
(SHRI NAMO NARAIN MEENA)
(a) & (b) Yes, Sir. Every year during fire season, forests in many States suffer losses on account of forest fires. Majority of the forest fires are ground fires. The losses are mainly in the nature of loss of biodiversity, soil nutrients and moisture, release of Carbon dioxide (CO2) gas in atmosphere etc. Details of incidences of forest fire during last three years and current year, State-wise, are given in Annexure.
(c) Efforts made by the Government to minimize incidence of forest fires are as under :-
(i) Central assistance is provided to States and Union Territories every year under Integrated Forest Protection Scheme to take effective steps for prevention and control of forest fires. The activities undertaken by States / Union Territories include creation and maintenance of firelines,
firewatchers, communication, construction of watch towers, mobility etc.
(ii) During fire season, Forest Survey of India, an organization under the Ministry, provides information on active forest fire locations for the entire country using remote sensing data on daily basis.
(iii) Respective State Forest Departments also take measures to prevent and control forest fires including eliciting support of local communities to prevent and control forest fires.