Large tracts of forests in Odisha have been engulfed in raging fire making it the most affected State on Thursday.
In the last seven days since April 9, Odisha has recorded 3,531 fire spots pushing Maharashtra with 3,203 spots to the second position.
The other States affected are Madhya Pradesh (2,472 fire spots), Telangana (2,339) and Chhattisgarh (2,163).
According to an alert issued on the basis of satellite imageries of SNPP (Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership)-VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) sensor, till April 14, Odisha was at the fourth position as far as fire spots were concerned.
As many as 861 and 936 spots had been traced on Tuesday and Wednesday followed by 676 on Thursday pushing the State to the top in the list.
Compared to this, the State had recorded only 139 fire spots in January, 326 in February and 1,122 in March.
In the first week of April, Odisha witnessed a sudden spurt registering 1,151 spots. In Dhenkanal, the fire came very close to the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). The Dhenkanal Fire Service and Forest department doused it with help from several volunteers.
The Forest Survey of India (FSI) says though forest fire could be triggered by natural causes such as lightning, rolling stones, friction of dry bamboos and stems of trees in favourable conditions like high atmospheric temperatures and dryness, 95% originate from anthropogenic sources.
The FSI study points out that 2.82% of Odisha’s forest cover has been categorised as “extremely fire prone”, 7.73% as “very highly fire prone”, 13.32% as “highly fire prone”, 19.96% as “moderately fire prone” and 56.17% as “less fire prone”. In comparison, 38.46% in Mizoram is very highly fire prone, 33.13% in Manipur, 21.90% in Tripura and 13.04% in neighbouring in Andhra Pradesh
In 13 years from 2004-05 to 2017, 26,719 fire spots were detected making the State the second in the table led by Mizoram with 32,659 fires. The high incidence is attributed to the low physical patrolling by forest staff and weak information gathering system.
