BHUBANESWAR: With the state witnessing a four-fold rise in wildfires within a month due to rising temperature, the government has asked the Forest department to take adequate precautionary measures to deal with such incidents effectively.
Special relief commissioner (SRC) Satyabrata Sahu has directed the Forest department to intensify community awareness activities to combat forest fires and protect wildlife during the ongoing fire season.
He further asked forest officials to mobilise local communities, Van Surakhya Samitis and Panchayati Raj Institutions to tackle the issue.
The number of forest fire incidents which was just 957 till February-end has now jumped to 4,525 after detection of 3,572 fire points between March 1 and 31. In fact, half of the fire incidents recorded in March were reported in the last week of the month.
As per the Forest Survey of India (FSI) statistics, total 1,792 forest fire points were detected in the state from March 25 to 31. A sudden rise in mercury level is believed to have triggered the surge in wildfire incidents.
On Sunday, 327 fire points were detected across the state prompting authorities to mobilise fire squads to different forests. With temperature rising gradually, the number of large forest fire incidents which had remained just two on March 29, jumped to 27 pointing at the looming crisis the state may have to face when summer reaches its peak between April and May.
PCCF and HoFF Debidutta Biswal said the department is keeping a close vigil on the situation in view of the rising mercury-level. He said the situation is under control and the number of forest fires recorded in the current fire season so far is significantly less as compared to that reported during the corresponding period of the previous season.
As per the FSI data, total 19,988 forest fire points had been detected in the state between January and March 2023. Keeping in view the wildfire season, the PCCF said fire protection squads have already been mobilised and the response rate so far is around 98.7 per cent.
