State upgrades tech to get forest fire alerts online

Kolkata: The state government has initiated the process of upgrading technology so that forest fire alerts are available on an online basis and even the minimum damage to natural resources due to fires can be prevented.

“The Forest Survey of India (FSI) has a powerful satellite. As soon as they capture images of any fire, they inform the dedicated fire cell of our department. There is a nodal officer in charge of this cell who immediately posts the message in WhatsApp group consisting of divisional forest officers (DFOs) and JFMC members so that immediate intervention can be made,” a Forest department official said. The official added that the department is in constant touch with FSI for technological intervention so that such alerts can be faster and accurate. “There have been instances of ground fires at almost every forest due to the sweltering heat.

However, our alertness and seriousness in curbing such fires has been very effective this year as we have been able to make immediate intervention in case of ground fire and have extinguished it in the ground itself, preventing it from spreading,” the official added. Forest fires generally occur in a seasonal pattern. The major prevention taken for mitigating it is the removal of forest litter consisting of dried twigs, leaves, etc. from the “forest fire line.” Clearances of the fire line prevent the spread of fire. “We did an analysis of fires for the past few years and have found a general pattern of its occurrence.

These areas were mostly identified as vulnerable zones in Bengal. Alerts were issued to field officers at the onset of the forest fire season to take adequate precautions and make predictions in such vulnerable areas to prevent damage,” the official added. Forest fires can occur due to natural or man-made causes. These can be ground fire, surface fire or crown fire. Forest fire is one of the major threats to the forest that leads to the loss of valuable timber resources, disturbance in the ecosystem, loss and depletion of wildlife habitat, reduction of forest cover, increased rate of release of carbon sequestered into the atmosphere and other non-repairable losses.