Forest Fires in the Himalayan region, its Adverse Effects and Mitigation Measures

The Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change examined the causes, impacts, and mitigation measures for forest fires in the Himalayan region to address gaps in monitoring, prevention, and disaster response that affect local ecosystems and human safety.

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; State Governments in the Himalayan region; Forest Survey of India (FSI); National Disaster Response Force (NDRF); and the general public in Himalayan states.

• Committee noted that forest fire drivers differ between Western and Eastern Himalayas, requiring region-specific prevention frameworks.
• Committee recommended developing predictive risk models and conducting research on the linkage between climate change and forest fires.
• For Western Himalayas, Committee recommended oak and deodar regeneration missions, stricter scrutiny of coniferous forest diversion, pre-season pine needle collection with minimum procurement prices, and support for briquette industries.
• For Eastern Himalayas, Committee recommended incidence-linked fire-free village incentives, time-bound recruitment, a single regional action plan, and an invasive species eradication mission.
• Committee recommended creating a centralised database for fire-related casualties and compensation, as no consolidated record currently exists.
• Committee recommended a post-fire protocol including watershed assessment and priority inclusion of affected areas in spring-rejuvenation programmes.
• Committee recommended launching a domestic geostationary satellite for round-the-clock fire monitoring to reduce dependence on foreign satellites and close daily observation gaps.
• Committee recommended structured training for nodal officers to interpret fire alerts, noting that only 12.5% of Forest Survey of India alerts in Uttarakhand corresponded to actual fires.
• Committee recommended integrating Forest Fire Alert System (FAST) alerts with the National Disaster Management Authority's cell broadcast system and collaborating with the India Meteorological Department for forecasting.
• Committee recommended approving three additional NDRF teams for high-altitude firefighting, expanding training, and establishing dedicated Regional Response Centres.
• Committee recommended strengthening community participation through volunteer incentives, recognition of sacred groves, and mandatory school ecology education.
• Committee recommended expediting the renewal of the Forest Fire Prevention and Management (FFPM) Scheme, introducing interim funding, and linking future releases to outcomes.
• Committee recommended a comprehensive review of forest law, native-species-matched compensatory afforestation, and notifying forest fires as a disaster under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

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