GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. *260
TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.12.2018

Forest Fires

*260. ADV. M. UDHAYAKUMAR:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to

(a) whether forest fires impacted a large area in many parts of the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the forest personnel in the country are ill equipped to deal with the forest fires;
and
(d) if so, the steps taken by the Government to provide them with the equipments and
communication facilities?

ANSWER

MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

(a) to (d) The statement is laid on the Table of the House.

****
STATEMENT REFFERED IN REPLY TO PART (a) to (d) OF THE LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION No. *260 DUE FOR 28.12.2018 REGARDING FOREST FIRES
ASKED BY ADV.M. UDHAYAKUMAR

(a) & (b) According to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2015, published by the
Forest Survey of India, Dehradun, the estimated fire prone area under heavy,
moderate and mild fire are 2.40 percent, 7.49 percent and 54.40 percent of
Recorded Forest Areas (RFAs) respectively, thus making the total forest fire
prone area as 64.29 percent of the Recorded Forest Area (RFA).
These estimates are based on the field data from National Forest Inventory (NFI),
wherein damages due to forest fire are observed occularly in a circular area of
two hectare around the plot center and classified as ‘Heavy’ if more than 50
percent of the area/crop is affected by fire; ‘Moderate’ if 10-50 percent of the
area is affected by fire; ‘Mild’ if the area affected is less than 10 percent.
The Ministry in collaboration with the World Bank has conducted a study on
Situation Analysis of Forest Fire and released a study report titled “Strengthening
Forest Fire Management in India” which contains various recommendations
regarding fire prevention, detection, suppression, post-fire management, engaging
with communities, coordination with other agencies etc. As per the report, 20
districts mainly located in the North East accounted for about 40.29 per cent of
all forest fires detected between 2003 and 2016. Similarly, 20 districts, mainly in
Central India, accounted for about 48.18 percent of the total fire affected area in
the country between 2003 and 2016. The details are given in Annexure-I and
Annexure-II.

(c) & (d) The Ministry has formulated National Action Plan on Forest Fire and circulated
to all State/UT Governments for taking appropriate action for effective
prevention and management of forest fire.
The Ministry supports the efforts of State/Union Territory Governments in
prevention and control of forest fire by providing financial assistance for various
forest fire prevention and management measures such as creation and
maintenance of fire lines in forest areas, engagement of fire watchers, creation of
water storage structures in forest areas, strengthening of forest infrastructure,
procurement of fire fighting equipments, Soil and Moisture Conservation (SMC)
works in high risk areas, awareness creation, incentivizing villages/communities
for protection against forest fire etc. under the Centrally Sponsored Forest Fire
Prevention and Management (FPM) Scheme. The details of fund released to
State/ UT Governments for various forest protection measures including forest
fire prevention and management under the erstwhile Intensification of Forest
Management Scheme (IFMS) and the ongoing Forest Fire Prevention and
Management (FPM) Scheme during the last three years (as on 24.12.2018) is
given in Annexure-III.
***
 ANNEXURE-I

ANNEXURE REFFERED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) & (b) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED
QUESTION No. *260 DUE FOR 28.12.2018 REGARDING FOREST FIRES ASKED BY ADV. M.
UDHAYAKUMAR

Share of
Share of fire total
S.N Fire detections,
District, State, Region detections, 2003- forest
o 2003-2016 (number)
2016 (%) cover,
2000 (%)
1 Lunglei, Mizoram, North East 13,453 3.82 0.87
2 Karbi Anglong, Assam, North 12,238 3.48 1.71
East
3 Dima Hasao, Assam, North East 11,608 3.30 0.91
4 Churachandpur, Manipur, North 11,068 3.15 0.87
East
5 Mamit, Mizoram, North East 9,005 2.56 0.58
6 Lawngtlai, Mizoram, North East 8,501 2.42 0.43
7 Tamenglong, Manipur, North 8,163 2.32 0.79
East
8 Aizawl, Mizoram, North East 6,705 1.91 0.61
9 Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, Central 6,264 1.78 1.56
10 Dhalai, Tripura, North East 6,234 1.77 0.40
Top 10 subtotal 93,239 26.50 8.73
11 Champhai, Mizoram, North East 5,940 1.69 0.64
12 W. Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, 5,220 1.48 0.88
North East
13 Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh, 5,098 1.45 0.78
Central
14 Ribhoi, Meghalaya, North East 4,835 1.37 0.43
15 Kandhamal, Odisha, Central 4,753 1.35 1.09
16 E. Garo Hills, Meghalaya, North 4,687 1.33 0.50
East
17 Ukhrul, Manipur, North East 4,645 1.32 0.78
18 Chandel, Manipur, North East 4,628 1.32 0.56
19 Bijapur, Chhattisgarh, Central 4,615 1.31 1.19
20 North Tripura, Tripura, North 4,087 1.16 0.33
East
Top 20 subtotal 141,747 40.29 15.91
 ANNEXURE-II

ANNEXURE REFFERED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) & (b) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED
QUESTION No. *260 DUE FOR 28.12.2018 REGARDING FOREST FIRES ASKED BY ADV. M.
UDHAYAKUMAR

Share of
Fire affected Share of total
burnt area,
S.No District, State, Region area, 2003-2016 forest cover,
2003-2016
(sq km) 2000 (%)
(%)
1 Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, Central 4,106 8.24 1.56
2 Bijapur, Chhattisgarh, Central 2,633 5.29 1.19
3 Khammam, Telangana, South 1,923 3.86 1.13
4 Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh, Central 1,346 2.70 0.78
5 Warangal, Telangana, South 1,273 2.56 0.45
6 Koriya, Chhattisgarh, Central 1,169 2.35 0.42
7 Adilabad, Telangana, South 995 2.00 0.39
8 Chandrapur, Maharashtra, Central 970 1.95 0.31
9 Surguja, Chhattisgarh, Central 948 1.90 0.79
10 Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, South 895 1.80 0.23
Top 10 subtotal 16,258 32.64 7.24
11 Amravati, Maharashtra, Central 888 1.78 0.23
12 Y.S.R., Andhra Pradesh, South 854 1.71 0.32
13 Prakasam, Andhra Pradesh, South 849 1.70 0.31
Dakshin Bastar Dantewada,
14 Chhattisgarh, Central 803 1.61 0.73
15 Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, Central 799 1.60 0.36
16 Raipur, Chhattisgarh, Central 777 1.56 0.50
17 Betul, Madhya Pradesh, Central 727 1.46 0.29
18 Champhai, Mizoram, North East 707 1.42 0.64
19 Lawngtlai, Mizoram, North East 673 1.35 0.43
20 Dima Hasao, Assam, North East 665 1.34 0.91
Top 20 subtotal 24,000 48.18 11.97
 ANNEXURE-III

ANNEXURE REFFERED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c) & (d) OF THE LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION No. *260 DUE FOR 28.12.2018 REGARDING FOREST FIRES
ASKED BY ADV. M. UDHAYAKUMAR
(Rs. in lakhs)
S. No. States 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19
Released Released Released Released
(As on 24.12.2018)
Other States
1 Andhra Pradesh 0.00 0.00 0.00 260.06
2 Bihar 59.09 88.59 75.00 57.17
3 Chhattisgarh 120.75 211.04 168.00 104.60
4 Gujarat 179.99 122.26 75.00 92.16
5 Goa 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
6 Haryana 77.86 93.91 75.00 0.00
7 Himachal Pradesh 302.16 331.36 276.70 0.00
8 Jammu &
Kashmir 193.93 95.61 75.00 0.00
9 Jharkhand 83.62 199.63 105.00 107.84
10 Karnataka 228.19 203.27 105.00 148.36
11 Kerala 86.00 163.65 234.53 220.83
12 Madhya Pradesh 420.00 281.15 168.00 572.08
13 Maharashtra 447.32 372.58 321.58 629.76
14 Orissa 136.00 266.14 168.00 348.01
15 Punjab 77.00 0.00 75.00 0.00
16 Rajasthan 112.54 174.22 105.00 98.82
17 Tamil Nadu 203.02 74.29 105.00 0.00
18 Telangana 0.00 0.00 105.00 0.00
19 Uttar Pradesh 156.15 139.72 75.00 100.61
20 Uttarakhand 356.83 304.03 168.00 438.38
21 West Bengal 0.00 92.83 75.00 54.14
Total 3240.45 3214.28 2554.81 3232.82
NE & Sikkim
1 Assam 0 0 0.00 93.23
2 Arunachal
Pradesh 85.07 181.34 102.00 0.00
3 Manipur 240.76 125.02 219.88 181.73
4 Meghalaya 180.26 126.57 104.63 113.53
5 Mizoram 153.17 131.29 90.59 88.37
6 Nagaland 122.6 170.01 92.56 66.49
7 Sikkim 150 119.73 148.59 0.00
8 Tripura 147.19 190.76 66.00 65.40
Total 1079.05 1044.72 824.25 608.75
Union Territories
1 A & N Islands 28.00 56.23 9.00 0.00
2 Chandigarh 36.99 74.52 8.00 0.00
3 D&N Haveli 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
4 Daman & Diu 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
5 Lakshadweep 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
6 New Delhi 0.00 50.00 30.00 0.00
7 Pondicherry 0.00 0.00 30.00 0.00
Total 64.99 180.75 77.00 0.00
Grand Total 4384.49 4439.75 3456.06 3841.57