BHUBANESWAR: Odisha, one of the worst forest fire-affected states, will receive funds from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to fight the menace effectively.
Sources in the Forest department said Odisha along with Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and a few other states have been identified by the NDMA as highly vulnerable to forest fire incidents.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, PCCF and HoFF Suresh Pant said a proposal of Rs 63 crore has already been given to the government for submission to the NDMA for sanction of funds.
“The funds will be utilised for installation of AI camera tower, community engagement and other programmes to deal with forest fire incidents more efficiently in the state from the next season onwards,” Pant said.
A senior official from the Forest department said NDMA has already identified 17 vulnerable territorial and wildlife divisions including Baliguda, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Paralakhemundi and Sambalpur for necessary fire preventive measures during forest fire season.
“The NDMA authorities have also appreciated our proposal and assured to place funds by June. The proposal is also expected to be approved within a month,” he added. However, about 10 pc of the `63 crore fund will be borne by the state government under the state specific scheme.
“A major portion of the funds will be utilised to install AI camera towers to check forest fires. The AI-integrated thermal cameras in the towers will have a range of at least 5 km to 6 km. This will help us detect forest fire and contain their spread in a much faster way,” the officer said adding, the cameras will also help improve forest security and monitoring wildlife movement.
This apart, he said, the funds will also be used in taking up the forest officer community programme. The programme will be taken up in a total of 425 villages - 25 villages in each of the 17 divisions - where local youths will be engaged in forest fire prevention and provided equipment for the same.
This apart, forest officials said self-help groups will also be engaged to fight wildfire outside forests and check their spread. The SHGs will be provided an incentive of up to Rs 1.5 lakh, while their villages will also be given Rs 1 lakh towards incentive based on performance.
Odisha has reported over 29,600 forest fire points since January 1 in the current forest fire season. Over 8,800 of these fire points have been detected outside forest boundaries. The early onset of monsoon has helped in containing incidents of forest fire naturally this season that continues till June-end.