THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Climate change is knocking on the door of the state than ever before with Kerala experiencing flood and drought-like situations in successive years. After one of the worst floods in its history, the state government has now accorded sanction to procure ‘mini water mist fire tenders’ to efficiently combat forest fire anticipating a severe summer ahead.
Speaking to Express, A K Dharni, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Forest Management), said the state government has accorded administrative sanction for fabricating two mini forest fire responder vehicles which would cost around Rs 63.72 lakh, to combat wildfire. Earlier, the government had given sanction for fabricating vehicles for fire fighting for a total amount of Rs 54 lakh. But the purchase of fabricated vehicles could not be materialised due to various reasons.
Now, the Steering Committee of the State CAMPA approved the purchase of two ‘mini water mist fire tenders’ for the Kerala Forest Department’ which will be helpful to efficiently combat forest fires. The forest fire responder vehicles will have accessibility in hilly locations in the forest where fire breakouts cannot be handled easily by the department. The high-pressure pump system associated with the vehicle will generate a fine mist foam and water fire suppressant and contain fire from spreading to other regions.
“Last year, the Forest Department had to seek the service of Air Force choppers to douse the fire in many areas. We can’t say this will address the increasing forest fire issue in the state. But this successfully experimented in many countries. In India, this will be the first attempt by a state forest department to employ mini water mist fire tenders,” said Dharni.
This system has also many challenges as well. For instance, identifying water bodies near the wildfire or finding enough water to douse fire in areas where fire breaks out is very essential. Further, the accessibility to treacherous regions is also critical in crisis time, he said. Whereas, the traditional methods followed by the department over the years like creating fire lines, constructing watchtowers and shutting down the vulnerable sanctuaries, including Silent valley, Parambikulam and Wayanad sanctuaries, ahead of summer has some limitations in containing forest fire, said experts.
In 2014, the state received 114 satellite-based fire-alerts from the Forest Fire Alert System, a national database maintained by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehradun, while it was 91 in 2015 and 165 in 2016. During the 2009-10 period, the state lost over 5,000 hectares of pristine forest land to fire.