CHANDIGARH: In the ongoing summer season Himachal Pradesh has witnessed a sharp increase in forest fires due to the rising temperatures, dry winds, prolonged dry conditions and highly combustible chir pine forests which create ideal conditions for such fires to spread rapidly as the resin-rich pine needles dry quickly and act as a tinderbox which can catch fire from even a minor spark, with as many as 453 incidents reported across the 11 Reserve Forest Circles (RFC) of the hill state so far this year. Such fires threaten biodiversity, wildlife habitats and the fragile Himalayan ecology. In many, fires also endanger nearby villages and human settlements.
According to data from the state forest department, the highest number of fire incidents was reported in the Mandi forest circle, where 143 fires were recorded during the ongoing summer season followed by Dharamsala with 113 firer, then Nahan 57, then Chamba 46, Hamirpur 34, Shimla 19 and Solan and Bilaspur 13 each such incidents, the least ere two in Rampur. While 276 forest fires were recorded during the summer season last year, the number had surged to an alarming 2,433 in 2024. In comparison, 758 incidents were reported in 2022, 110 in 2023, and just 15 in 2021.
Sources said that the continued dry weather, rising temperatures, the accumulation of dry pine needles, and human negligence remain major contributing factors behind the recurring forest fires in the hill state.
A senior forest department official said that, the maximum forest fire incidents were reported after the onset of the summer season as the summer fire season generally starts from April 15. The heat wave conditions and soaring temperatures are among the likely causes behind the fires the possibility of human involvement could not be ruled out. As these incidents also took place in Shimla so these cannot be attributed entirely to extreme hot conditions.
"The state forest department has intensified monitoring and firefighting preparedness in sensitive forest zones as temperatures continue to rise across several districts . As vulnerable forest areas have been identified through digital mapping, also to carry out controlled burning where required, and conduct awareness campaigns involving local communities. Now we get satellite-based alerts as control rooms have been established at the range and divisional levels so fire detection is no longer the biggest problem. The real challenge is mitigation, which is actually reaching and controlling fires in difficult terrain. Most incidents happen in remote and steep areas where access is extremely difficult,’’ he said.
Sources said that three districts, Mandi, Surmaur and Bilapsur, were selected for a French-aided project AFD, under which Rs 8 crore has already been sanctioned for resources to prevent forest fires. The money was sanctioned under the Himachal Pradesh Disaster Risk Reduction and Preparedness component. Under this, the department has decided to procure powerful drones equipped with cameras to patrol forests and catch people who trigger fires within forests.
A study conducted by the state forest department attributed almost all forest fires in the hill state to human activities, both intentional and accidental, besides soaring temperatures during summers. The unintentional causes include discarded cigarette and bidi stubs, burning matchsticks, unattended fires lit by travelers, sparks from electric poles and the spread of flames from stubble burning in agricultural fields.
While the intentional forest fires are linked to attempts to induce fresh grass growth during summers, promote gucchi mushroom growth, facilitate the collection of forest produce, destroy evidence of illegal tree felling or drive away wild animals from villages. The impact of forest fires ranges from burning of dry grass and mainly Pine and Deodar leaf litter, during ground fires, to severe ecological destruction when fires spread to tree canopies and turn into crown fires.
Environmentalist Guman Singh said that the causes of the forest fires is global warming and also the abundance of highly flammable, fire-prone pine trees.
"There are abundant pine trees, including those of indigenous and exotic species and all of these species are vulnerable to fire as they are full of resin, which is very inflammable thus the needles of the pine trees catch fire very fast. The pine tree species also grows on its own without any assistance as for the long time the state forest department has not done any new plantation of pine trees,” he added.
In the latest incident a massive fire erupted near the Mandodhar forest area on the Dharampur-Mangoti Mor road in Kasauli during the wee hours of Wednesday. It took .firefighters nearly six hours of aggressive firefighting to douse the blaze, which spread rapidly due to a thick carpet of highly inflammable dry pine needles. While in another incident around 350 people were rescued after a forest fire surrounded a hilltop Naina Devi temple which is in the Patiyalkar area of Nagrota Bagwan in Kangra district on Tuesday evening.