Glaring lack of infrastructure in Uttarakhand to manage forest fires: Report

Uttarakhand suffers from a glaring lack of essential infrastructure required for effective forest fire management, an amicus curiae report in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) said on a matter regarding leaf burning in the Badkot forest range along the Rishikesh-Dehradun Road.

Earlier in April, the NGT appointed advocate Gaurav Bansal as the amicus curiae (friend of the court) to assist with the case.

The report, dated October 14 and submitted to the NGT last week, said it was imperative to address the critical deficiencies and violations hindering effective forest fire management in the state.

“The state of Uttarakhand suffers from a glaring lack of essential infrastructure required for effective forest fire management. This includes a shortage of firefighting equipment (such as protective goggles, protective gears, weapons, etc.), insufficient patrolling vehicles to access remote areas, and a dearth of communication devices such as wireless and satellite phones essential for coordination and timely response during fire emergencies,” it said.

The report said the Forest Department was facing infrastructure challenges, including a lack of new structures to meet growing demands and an increased workforce and the forest guard or forester chowkis being located in remote areas, without basic amenities.

“The construction and maintenance of fire lines are essential for effective fire management. However, the Uttarakhand Government has not reviewed its fire lines for a significant period, compromising the state’s fire management efforts,” it added.

According to the report, for every 2,448 hectares of forests, there was only one forest guard who was also responsible for controlling illicit felling, mining, wildlife poaching and other forest and wildlife-related offences.

“What adds insult to injury is that in Uttarakhand, there is a system of ‘recovery’ for loss of revenue due to illicit felling from the salary of forest guards or foresters. Saving by the sole forest guard is nothing but an impossible task,” it said.

It added that another deficiency was that daily wage workers and non-permanent staff of the forest department lacked insurance coverage.

The report also suggested to the NGT that forest personnel who give their lives in the line of duty be given the status of martyrs.

It recommended that the nodal office dealing with forest fires be not given any additional charge by the state government.

Regarding the lack of infrastructure, the report recommended directing the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to allocate sufficient funds to the state forest department.