Tamil Nadu: Forest officials to send monthly reports, organise anti-poaching camps
CHENNAI: Aiming to end incidents of forest fires in Tamil Nadu, the state forest department has put in place a stringent mechanism to prevent and control forest fires.
It has directed the forest department officials to send monthly consolidated reports of the circles to the office of principal chief conservator of forests 5th of every month and also to reorganise anti-poaching camps to form a fire fighting squad with a minimum strength of 10 anti-poaching watchers during the fire season. The district forest officers (DFOs) and wildlife wardens and conservators have been asked to take up frequent inspections.
According to a circular issued by the department on January 25, a fire fighting squad with a minimum strength of 20 members should be formed with fire watchers/social forestry workers drawn as members and involved in prevention and control measures. Conservators might issue specific instructions and take follow up action on the subject.
Another area that needs immediate attention is the communication facility. It should be strengthened and used effectively to convey information on movement of men and materials to fire occurrence site for immediate action. Also, the area affected by fire should be inspected, surveyed through GPS and the details sent to principal chief conservator of forests and head of department and copy marked to GIS cell for tabulating the actual area burnt.
Also, database on forest fires should be sent for completion and analysis of statistics on fire damage. The officials should not permit any movement of public inside the forest without prior permission. Among the numerous instruction issued by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, is to deny permission for trekking during the fire season.
On January 20, two persons were arrested by officials from the Gudalur forest division, after they were caught red handed igniting a forest fire. In March last year, the Kurangani forest fire mishap in Theni district which claimed 23 lives, led to the Tamil Nadu government to ban trekking in the State for two months every year.
According to ‘Spatial and temporal analysis of decadal forest fire data (2006-2015)’ released by the TN Forest department, forest fires start in January, increase in February and reach its highest point during March. Nearly 48 % of forest fires in Tamil Nadu were reported during March and February, which together saw about 72 % of the total number of forest fires in the state. The number of incidents decreases during April and gradually phases out as southwest monsoon sets in.
