Hills In Flames: The Growing Threat Of Forest Fires In India’s North

By the hills where silence wove its hymn, 

A cruel blaze devoured the dim. 

In winter’s grip, where frost takes hold, 

Dreams were burnt, and hearts turned cold.

*************

The fire roared, its tongue unkind, 

A beast that left no hope behind. 

Houses crumbled, stone to dust, 

Memories lost to fiery gust. 

*******

Saurabh Chauhan, a young writer from Shimla, composed a moving poem, just hours after a fierce fire ravaged Tandi village in Kullu on January 1, 2025. 17 houses, built in the iconic ‘Kath-Kuni’ style, were destroyed in the blaze, which struck in the early hours of the day, reducing them to ashes, amidst the heartbreaking cries of grieving families—aged, infirm,🌠 and children.

The village look𒐪ed ghastly after the winter fire tragedy. Once there had been the warmth an🀅d glow of hearts but now ridden by an eerie silence and the charred remains, deformed by the flames that had consumed them.

A deity's storehouse, and several cowsheds were also burnt down by the fi🐭re, which apparently started from a fodd🍷er shed and spread quickly due to strong winds and the houses being made of wood.The estimated loss is around Rs 10 crore.

Less than a month back, a wildfire also devastated Kullu's Bada Bhuin panchayat♛ forest, burning several hectares and causing a loss to the Himalayan biodiversity in the eco-sensitive valley.

Kullu’s conservator of forests Sandeep Sharma says more than six cases of winter fires were reported in the district in November and December mont🎃hs, apparently triggered by natural causes, human activities and other extraneous reasons.

While the rest of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir forests are often wreaked by widespread summer fires; their frequency and severity is also on rise, Kullu is peculiar to winter fires. The year 2024 was no exception to devastation and ecological havocs, afᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚt🌊er the state had seen massive monsoon disasters in 2023.

While wildfires rage through pa🦄rts of Los Angeles, causing deaths, destroying buildings, and forcing tens of thousands to evacuate, India is equally concerned about how forest fires are threatening Himalayan biodiversity, making the region increasingly vulnerable to wildfires each year.

Dehradun-based environmental journalist Jaysingh Rawat says Uttarakhand had experienced the wor🍒st forest fires in 2024, loss of several lives 🐻and also unimaginable damage to the state’s green cover. More than 11,256 incidents of forest 🔴fires were reported across 11 of its 13 districts from November 2023 to June 2024.

Rawat emphasises the fires have caused severe damage to forests, while also adversely affecting biodiverꦯsity and water resources.  

The affected areas include Garhwal and Kumaon. The forest fires were reported from Uttarkashi, Pauri, Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Dehradun. In the Kumaon division, such incidents were recorded in Al𝄹mora, Bageshwar, Pithoragarh and Udham Singh Nagar.

Some of t💛he glaring factors causing the wildfires include decline in rainy days and rising temperatures. It’s quite shocking to note rise of temperature in capital city of Dehradun♈, crossing 40-43 degrees Celsius in 2024. Less snow in the higher mountains and prolonged dry spell, just fewer rainy days, led to loss of soil moisture

Studies done by Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA), Dehradun reveals that the forest fires start in the month of April and last for about 10 weeks, but in the past few years, fire in🍒ci♊dents have been reported from November onwards.

In 2024, four forest officials, who were sent to extinguish a forest fire at Almora district’s Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary, died and two 𒊎others succumbed to burns. A total of six employees lost their lives in the incident.

As per Jaysingh Rawat the forest fires are a regular phenomenon in India often observed during summers. 52,785 forest fires were detected using MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer) sensor and 3,45,989 forest fires were detect🔯ed using SNPP-VIIRS (Suomi-National Polar-orbiting Partner𒉰ship - Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite)in forest fire season from Nov 2020 to June 2021.

Severe fires occur in many forest types particularly dry deciduous forest, while evergreen, semi-evergreen and montane temperate forests are comparatively less prone (ISFR 2015). More than 36 per cent of the country’s forest cover has been estimated to be pr♚one to frequent forest fires. Nearly 4 per cent of the country’s forest cover is extremely prone to fire, whereas 6 per cent of forest cover is found to be very highly fꦇire prone (ISFR 2019), he wrote, quoting the studies.

Even the Forest Survey of India report 2023, released recently by the Union minister for Environment, forests and Climate Change highlights a concerning increase in forest fire incidents in Indi💜a, particulaওrly in states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.

The report reveals a dramatic 1,339 per cent increase in forest fire incidents in Himachal Pradesh and a staggering 2,822 per cent rise in Jammu & Kashmir. These states have faced an alarming surge in fire incidents, causing widespread destruction of forest land, endangering biodiversity🌠, and threatening the livelihoods of local communities.

Uttarakhand ranks at number one for large forest f🌜ires with Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh having seen signi♋ficant forest fire activity.

According to the FSI, 54.40 per cent of forests in India are exposed to occasion🌟al fires, and around 7.49 per cent face moderately frequent fires. This widespread vulnerability is aggravated by inadequate resources and improper fire management strategies. Furthermore, forest fires in the country are often caused by both natural factors and human activities, such as land clearing for agricultur♎al purposes, grazing, and excessive irrigation.

Anoop Nautiyal, a social activist from Dehradun, highlights that Uttarakhand has had the highest number of forest fires between November 2023 tꦯo June 2024. Also, most largest forest fires lasting over 24 hours were also reported from Uttarakhand. As per Forest Survey of India report, of total forest fire reported in India, the state accounts🦄 for more than 10 per cent of fire incidents, which is quite an alarming fact established by the report. He also points out that the apex Court had also expressed concern over higher incidence of fires in Uttarakhand.  

Nautiyal expressed surprise at the state government's decision to reject the report, which is a reflection on its failures and the forest department as well. With the fiღre season approaching next month, he points out that the government has yet to outline any plans to manage the fires.

The hill state of Himachal Pradesh has seen an al🎃arming surge in forest fires in recent years.

According to the 2023 State of Forest Report, forest fire incidents have skyrocketed by an astonis🌞hing 1,339 perc❀ent compared to previous years. 

In Jammu & Kashmir also, the forest fires have seen a notable rise. It has resulted in destruction of dense forests and caused severe environmental imp♋act. All three states have been severely affected by wildfires, causing significant environmental damage and increased air pollution.  

The main contri🧸buting factors to the increase in forest fires include changing climatic conditions, prolonged dry spells, human negligence, and inadequate firefighting resources𒈔.

According to the Forest Survey of India report, Punjab has also seen a 400 per cent increase in forest fire incidents and Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana and Sikkim reported 128 per cent, 111 per cent, 102 per cent and 106 p🎶er cent increase in fire incidents.

In 2021, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had also p𒁏osted on micro-social media X his concern over ra🉐ging forest fires in Uttarakhand and passed orders to the state government to control the fires.  

The Supreme Court had also underscored the need to protect “precious forests” from the hazards of fires as the Uttarakhand government said that it was ♌trying to find a permanent solution to the prꦯoblem which has been affecting its forests.

Last year, a bench headed by Justice B R Gavai had also summoned the state Chief Secretary to explain “lac🍰kadaisical” approach in tackling the fires in Uttarakhand forests.

Director General of Forest Survey of India, Anoop Singh, says, “Forest fire alerts have become one of the most im꧟portant activities of FSI. Pre-Fire alerts, near-real time alerts are be🐭ing sent for several years.”

In the National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) framed by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA♚), the forest fires have been recognised as one of the national disasters because of  adverse consequences posed by severe forest fires to human lives, property, ecosystem stability, cl🎃imate patterns, and sustainable progress.