HUBBALLI: Almost a year after massive fires burnt down large swathes of the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, huge dried-up and burnt patches still stand testimony to the devastation caused. The poor preparation of the local forest division was exposed when they could not bring the fires under control for many days.
But now, the Forest Department is not taking chances. It is prepping itself and is already in talks with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to seek help in detection of fires.
A team of senior forest officials held a meeting with ISRO scientists on Friday evening and several issues pertaining to detection of forest fires were discussed. Presently, the Forest Survey of India (FSI) provides information about the fire points in the Protected Areas (PAs), but it is usually about two hours old and become difficult for the fire-fighting parties on the ground to attend.
“The department had already set up a forest cell at the National Remote Sensing Agency with the expertise of several wildlife institutions. The cell will update information about the fire points as soon as its detected. The ISRO team has assured us that the time for fire detection can be reduced to just 30 minutes from the current 120 minutes. This will be a big boost in fighting fires,” a senior forest official told TNIE.
There were 11 incidents of fire reported in Bandipur Tiger Reserve alone during 2018-19. About 3,160 hectares of forest area were reduced to ashes. This and more details about the forest fire in Bandipur were revealed in a recent RTI query.
The Forest Department also admitted that six people were arrested from around Bandipur in the period for causing fires. Wildlife activist Tejus R S, the RTI applicant, stressed that ground preparations must be in place to fight forest fires effectively.
“There have been incidents of human deaths due to tigers and elephants. Usually, there are more fires in such years. As per the RTI, a total of 19 fire incidents were reported in Bandipur in 2016-17 and about 4,570 hectares of forest land were damaged,” he noted.
“The foresters are now getting technical support, which is a welcome move. But the fire-fighting parties should also be strengthened with good vehicles and equipment so that forest fires can be fought effectively. More locals should be involved than urbanites,” he added.