“The causes of the forest fires are obviously attributed to prolonged dry spells in Jammu & Kashmir but fact remains that reasons for forest fires can vary from place to place in Jammu & Kashmir like other parts of the country.”
The rising concerns of the people living in the vicinity of forest areas about the increasing intensity of forest fires are yet to attract a quick response from the Jammu & Kashmir Government. Any further delay in controlling and containing forest fires can as such further increase the vulnerability of the people to forest fires in different forest areas of both Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu division. To reduce the vulnerability of the people of some of the forest areas to increasing forest fires the Government has though shifted some of them to safer places but the migration of the vulnerable populations won’t end their fears of safety and shelter forever. Administrative wisdom demands that for a robust and strong response to increasing forest fires Government looks into the causes of the unprecedented rise in forest fires in both Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu division. The causes of the forest fires are obviously attributed to prolonged dry spells in Jammu & Kashmir but fact remains that reasons for forest fires can vary from place to place in Jammu & Kashmir like other parts of the country. Since most of the states conduct forest surveys to look into the causes of forest fires the Jammu & Kashmir Government can also conduct such surveys annually for looking into the causes of forest fires. The onus of conducting such surveys on forest fires obviously lies on the Department of Forests and Environment besides Disaster Management Department of the Jammu & Kashmir Government. For all practical purposes migration of the populations of forest areas to safer places can be only an adhoc measure but not a permanent solution as unprecedented rise in the involvement of people in illegal forest operations in forest areas is being viewed as a bigger cause of increasing forest fires in Jammu & Kashmir.
“Imparting special training to Forest Protection Force a part of the J&K Forest & Environment Department for using drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras can obviously boost the practices of containing and controlling forest fires in Jammu & Kashmir. More efficient firefighting measures can also be introduced on the basis of the experiences of the fire safety measures taken for controlling and containing forest fires by different State and UT Governments in the country. Mere paper work won’t reduced the intensity of forest fires in Jammu & Kashmir but much depends on the initiatives the Jammu & Kashmir Government takes for building the supporting infrastructure through policy interventions, special budgetary support, technological adoptions, and training of Forest Protection Force for fire fighting operations.”
As States like Tamil Nadu and Orissa are already using drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras to monitor fire-prone areas, the Jammu & Kashmir Government can also put to practice such measures to contain and control forest fires more efficiently and effectively. Imparting special training to Forest Protection Force a part of the J&K Forest & Environment Department for using drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras can obviously boost the practices of containing and controlling forest fires in Jammu & Kashmir. More efficient firefighting measures can also be introduced on the basis of the experiences of the fire safety measures taken for controlling and containing forest fires by different State and UT Governments in the country. Mere paper work won’t reduced the intensity of forest fires in Jammu & Kashmir but much depends on the initiatives the Jammu & Kashmir Government takes for building the supporting infrastructure through policy interventions, special budgetary support, technological adoptions, and training of Forest Protection Force for fire fighting operations.
