(a) whether the Government is aware that several wild animals are perishing owing to frequent forest fires and thereby impacting biodiversity/ecological balance, if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the Government is making special provisions under Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme; and
(c) if so, the manner in which modern technology has been used in the said scheme?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)
(a) to (c) Forest Fires do occur every year during summer due to various natural and anthropogenic reasons including accumulation of inflammable materials such as dry leaves, twigs, pine needles etc. Most of forest fires in the country are ground fires in which ground vegetation, etc. get burnt. The number of incidents of forest fire in the country varies from year to year depending on various natural and anthropogenic reasons.Death of one wild animal is reported in Andaman & Nicobar Islands in 2018. No other death of wild life has been reported by other States and Union Territories (UTs) during the last three years.
The primary responsibility of forest fire prevention and management lies with the respective State or UT. The Ministry supports the efforts of States and UTs in prevention and control of forest fire by providing financial assistance for various forest fire prevention and management measures such as modern tools for fire extinguishing, use of communication & information technology, etc.under the Centrally Sponsored Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme.
Government of India is taking adequate steps to control fires in forests using modern technologies such as satellite based remote sensing technology and GIS tools which have been effective in better prevention and management of fires through creation of early warning for fire prone areas, monitoring fires on real time basis and estimation of burnt scars. Forest Survey of India, has been made responsible to keep constant vigil on forestfire across the country and send forest fire alerts on registered mobile numbers in the States. Till date around 1, 01, 550 users have been registered to receive firealerts from Forest Survey of India.
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