The Forest department has said that the non-release of Central allocation under the Forest Fire Management Scheme in 2020-21 has affected planning of fire protection activities in the current fire season.
The Centrally-sponsored scheme is the exclusive head of account for forest fire protection. A proposal for ₹19.86 crore was submitted to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) in July, 2020. The unspent amount of 2019-20 amounting to ₹1.03 crore alone was revalidated, according to an action taken report of the department submitted before the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
The Southern Bench of the tribunal had asked the government to provide the status of implementation of the National Action Plan on Forest Fire following the tragic death of three forest watchers at Illikundu forest range in Kottambathur of Thrissur in February 2020.
The action taken report filed by Rajesh Kumar Sinha, Principal Secretary, Forest and Wildlife department, said the dedicated Central scheme offered very little in terms of finances for the State Forest departments to embark on anything substantial on the workfront. Though it is facing crucial financial crisis, the State government has considered the proposal whenever it was received from the department, according to the report.
On the need to develop user-friendly firefighting tools and equipment, the department pointed out that most fire beaters in the market were heavy, inconvenient to carry while trekking and hence not of much practical use. Developing tools having practical utility require experimentation with different kinds of materials. It would be helpful, if a premier research institution is entrusted with the task under the guidance of the MoEF&CC, the report said.
Assistance of research institutions is also required to develop effective protective gears for firefighters involved in dousing forest fires. Most methods followed by the Department of Fire and Rescue Services are not of much field value in forests. The report suggested sharing of the latest satellite images along with ground-truthing of fire-affected areas with organisations like the Forest Survey of India for standardising the assessment of loss.
