FOREST FIRES – ENVIRONMENT
News: Forest
fire in Kodaikanal rages for more than 20 hours
What's in the news?
● A
major fire that broke out in a deep gorge in Perumalmalai in Kodaikanal range in Dindigul district
on March 14 night was contained after a struggle of over 20 hours.
● The
fire caught on dry lands with mostly rocks so no major loss occurred.
Causes of forest fires:
1. Natural causes:
● Lightening
● Global warming
● Increasing dry spells
● Lack
of atmospheric moisture and rainfall
● Wind
speed
● Friction
between dry leaves
● The
most vulnerable stretches of the world to forest fire are the youngest mountain
ranges of the Himalayas. With large-scale expansion of chir forests in
Himalayan mountains, the frequency and intensity of forest fires have increased
alarmingly.
2. Man-made causes:
● Poachers
set a small patch of forest on fire to divert the wild animals which many times
leads to such fires.
● Jungle
areas are also set on fire by villagers to clear the dry leaves on the ground
for easy collection of mahua flowers.
● Villagers
burn patches of sal trees in the belief that it will lead to better growth when
planted again.
● Campfires
● Shifting Cultivation.
● It
has been estimated that 90% of forest fires in India are man-made.
Impacts of forest fires:
● Loss of biodiversity and
ecosystem.
● Air
Pollution.
● Destruction
of watershed.
● Forest
fires can cause a lot of damage to the
regeneration in the forests and their productivity.
● Moisture-loving
trees such as Oaks and Deodars may give way to other species and exotic weeds.
● The
burning of forest firewood causes economic
losses as well.
● Forests
help maintain aquifers and continuous flow of streams and springs, and provide
firewood, fodder and non-timber produce to the local communities – all these
capacities may get adversely affected in case of a fire.
● Forest
fires may destroy organic matter in the
soil and expose the top layer to erosion.
● They
may also impact the wildlife by
burning eggs, killing young animals and driving the adult animals away from
their safe haven.
● Sometimes,
a forest fire may get out of control and extend to human settlements, thus
posing danger to human life and property.
How to prevent forest fires?
● Forecasting fire-prone
days using meteorological data.
● Clearing
camping sites of dried biomass.
● Early burning
of dry litter on the forest floor.
● Growing
strips of fire-hardy plant species within the forest.
● Creating
fire lines in the forests are some
of the methods to prevent fires. The fire lines are strips in the forest kept
clear of vegetation to prevent the fire from spreading.
● In
1999, the state government notified
forest fire rules which restrict or regulate certain activities in and
around forest areas such as lighting a fire, burning agricultural stubble or
undergrowth (ghasnis) and stacking inflammable forest produce such as dried
leaves and firewood.