BHUBANESWAR: With the state grappling with rising forest fires due to prevailing heatwave condition, the Forest department has asked officials of all wildlife divisions and sanctuaries to step up measures for enhanced vigilance, inter-division coordination and wider community participation to deal with the menace.
PCCF (wildlife)-cum-chief wildlife warden Prem Kumar Jha, who chaired a meeting with all divisional forest officers (DFOs) in this regard recently, asked them to intensify awareness campaigns involving stakeholders and the public.
Considering the risk posed to captive wild animals, Jha ordered the DFOs managing small and mini zoos across the state to implement special fire protection measures and make adequate provisions for water to help the animals cope with the scorching heat. He also stressed on adhering to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for zoo management.
On Sunday, the state witnessed 759 fire points in different forest and wildlife divisions pushing the total number of wildfires in the season to around 15,000. In wildlife sanctuaries, a total 1,568 fire points have been recorded so far, and all these points have been attended to without delay, the PCCF said.
“The state has significantly bolstered its forest fire management efforts this year, with a substantial rise in firefighting squads, personnel, and technological interventions,” Jha said.
The number of firefighting squads has more than doubled from 41 in 2023-24 to 90 in 2024-25, while the workforce engaged in fire mitigation increased from 205 personnel last year to 690 this year, said an official from the wildlife headquarters.
“For quicker response, the fire response fleet has also been upgraded with induction of 90 firefighting vehicles, which is more than twice the 41 available in 2023, while 1,026 blowers have been deployed across all wildlife divisions to support ground operations. Fire line creation has also been expanded significantly, with 10,541 km of fire lines established in 2025, a nearly 14-fold increase from the 738 km created in 2024,” he said.
Officials said the budgetary allocation for forest fire management in wildlife divisions has been increased to Rs 14.21 lakh in 2025, up from Rs 4.19 lakh in 2024. Advanced technology is also playing a crucial role, with AI-powered fire detection cameras installed at five locations in Similipal Tiger Reserve, providing real-time alerts for rapid response, they said.
“Posters, leaflets, and video presentations are being distributed to educate communities on fire prevention,” said an official from Baripada forest division.