BENGALURU: Karnataka forest department officials have prepared a database of forest fires that have occurred over the years, to combat forest fires this year. The legacy data of the past 15-20 years has been shared with all ground staff officials for better forest fire management.
This database was created by forest officials and the Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Centre (KSRSAC). Forest, Environment and Ecology Minister Eshwar Khandre was on Monday apprisedC 40 about its use, along with latest satellite data and technological interventions being done to mitigate forest fires. He was also given a demonstration of the use of technology in sending forest fire alerts and data sharing, and also how time plays a crucial role.
The minister told officials to ensure that monitoring is a continuous process and the separate division in the department is constantly alert, and there is minimal damage due to forest fires this year. He also told officials to deploy additional manpower to strengthen field staff, utilise additional forest fire watchers and drone technology for surveillance in case of any untoward incident. Taking note that miscreants set forests ablaze, Khandre told officials to be ruthless and take stern action against those involved by filing criminal cases.
Officials informed the minister that earlier, forest fire alerts would come from NASA to ISRO, then the Forest Survey of India and finally to state government departments. But now the state department has partnered with KSRSAC, that takes images directly from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and transfers it to ground staff for quick action.
“This has made the process of accessing and disseminating information a matter of seconds. The old format would take 12-14 hours. An alert feedback system is also playing a crucial role as ground staffers have to send a fire dousing report with a photograph after the alert is raised, to close the case. This helps control the situation and improve mitigation measures,” a senior forest official said.