Despite ground fires, Telangana managed to protect forest and animals in Amrabad: Centre
Hyderabad: Despite the ground fire occurring annually, the State Government ensured there is no damage to existing flora and fauna including tiger – the National Animal, in Amrabad Tiger Reserve.
This was informed by Union State Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ashwini Kumar Choubey while replying to a question by Malkajgiri MP A Revanth Reddy in Lok Sabha on Saturday.
The number of incidences of forest fire in the country varies from year to year depending on various natural and anthropogenic reasons. Forest fires do occur every year during summer due to various natural and anthropogenic reasons, including accumulation of inflammable materials such as dry leaves, twigs, pine needles etc, he said.
Forest Fire Alerts
Most of the forest fires in the country are ground fires, in which ground vegetation etc get burnt. The Forest Survey of India (FSI) sends forest fire alerts to all registered users, including those in Telangana on this alert system.
The responsibility of forest fire prevention and management lies primarily with the respective State or UT. The Ministry of Forests supports the efforts of the States or UTs in prevention and control of forest fire by providing financial assistance for various forest fire prevention and management measures, he informed.
The Telangana Government has taken several measures to combat forest fire incidents, including Amrabad Tiger Reserve.
Cattle Proof Trench
In the last five years, about round 11,000 km of Cattle Proof Trench (CPT) has been taken up throughout the State. This not only helps in protection and improvement of soil moisture regime but also acts as a fire break. In Amrabad Tiger Reserve (ATR), 732 kms of CPT has been dug up.
Details of fire vulnerable forest areas obtained through spatial analysis were shared with field officers for effective planning, creation and maintenance of fire lines, besides other mitigative measures.
Around 15,000 km fire lines have been completed till 2020-21 throughout the State. In ATR alone, 1200 km of fire lines with five meter width have been created and maintained.
Apart from the existing base camp watchers and strike force members, additional fire watchers and 45 Quick response teams were engaged in the highly vulnerable areas for four months. They were provided hired vehicles as per need for faster movement, besides carrying out awareness campaign in the villages.
A total of 52 numbers of watch towers have been constructed at vantage points to locate and monitor forest fires throughout the State. In ATR, 12 such watch towers have been constructed, he added.
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