Uttarakhand

• 28 Apr 2022

Increasing forest fire outbreak in Uttarakhand

Why In News?

• As per the data released by the Chief Conservator of Forests, Vanagni and Disaster Management Office of Uttarakhand on April 27, 2022, the highest number of incidents of vanagni have been reported in both Garhwal and Kumaon divisions of the state.

Key Point

• A total of 227 forest fires have taken place at 227 places in the state, in which a total of 561 hectares of forest area has been affected and an economic loss of more than Rs.11 lakh has been assessed.
• In the fire season that began on February 15, a total of 1443 incidents of forest have been reported so far this year, including 642 in Garhwal, 724 in Kumaon and 77 in protected wildlife zones. These have affected 2432.62 hectares of forest area and an assessment of economic loss of over Rs 60 lakh.
• Vanagni has polluted the air in Uttarakhand. Due to the incidence of forest, the amount of black carbon here has increased by 12 to 13 times. An ethelometer has been installed in association with Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in the Department of Physics of Central Garhwal University for the calculation of this black carbon in the atmosphere.
• It may be recalled that the National Action Plan on Forest Fires (NAPFF) was launched in 2018 to reduce forest fires by informing, empowering and empowering forest marginal communities and encouraging them to work with state forest departments .