NEW DELHI: A 10-year management plan for Delhi’s Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary has proposed setting up three specialised fire response units, creating fire lines and deploying GPS-equipped teams, as forest fires have been flagged as one of the biggest ecological threats to the protected area.
Prepared with the help of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the 2024–25 to 2034–35 management plan, which was cleared back in December, has now been released, officials said.
According to the plan, “there is no official record documenting fire-prone areas or past fire incidents, which makes effective management and preventive action challenging.”
It also stated that the “absence of adequately equipped and dedicated fire management units further limits the sanctuary’s ability to respond promptly and efficiently to fire outbreaks.”
The document noted that the semi-arid stretches of Bhatti and Asola along the sanctuary’s fringes are the most vulnerable to fires, as vegetation becomes “highly flammable during the dry season.”
The plan proposes maintaining ‘beat boundary patrolling trails’ as fire lines during the fire season. These cleared pathways act as barriers to prevent the spread of fire while also helping staff monitor vulnerable zones. “These will be used for surveillance and will also act as fire breaks to control and prevent the spread of forest fires,” it said.
The plan highlights that human habitation, grazing, fuelwood collection, and accidental fires along the fringes increase wildfire risk, threatening biodiversity and habitat stability in the sanctuary.