NDRF deploys its First forest fire fighting teams

New Delhi: Atul Karwal, the Director General of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), has announced that the first group of 150 responders, trained to combat forest fires, has been deployed. Karwal also mentioned that they are coordinating with the Ministry of Home Affairs to arrange for overseas training in countries that frequently experience forest fires. This would enable them to learn effective strategies for tackling such disasters.

In 2022, a Parliamentary panel aised concerns about forest fires not being included in the NDRF’s official disaster response duties. Karwal stated in an interview that the three teams, each consisting of 50 members, are stationed at the first battalion in Guwahati, the 10th battalion in Vijaywada, and the 15th battalion in Uttarakhand. A fourth team is currently undergoing training and will serve as a reserve unit.

The NDRF will be responsible for extinguishing fires, creating ‘fire lines’ in forests to control the spread of fire, and rescuing people trapped in these disasters, which could be either natural or man-made. The Parliamentary panel had highlighted that forest fires are an increasing global threat. These incidents not only destroy forest resources and biodiversity but also contribute to climate change, negatively affect tribal livelihoods, and cause severe distress to the flora and fauna of forests.

Given the rising number of such incidents in the country, the panel recommended that forest fires should be promptly included in the list of disasters addressed by the NDRF. They emphasised that a highly trained force is needed to combat large forest fires due to the limited capacity of the forest department.

This recommendation was made in light of the massive fire in the Dzukou valley, Nagaland in 2021, and similar incidents reported from Similipal (Odisha) and Bandhavgarh (Madhya Pradesh) tiger reserves in the same year.

According to a report by the Forest Survey of India, forest fires are a common occurrence in India, especially during summers. Over four lakh incidents were reported between November 2020 and June 2021. The report revealed that 54.40 per cent of India’s forests are exposed to occasional fires, 7.49 per cent to moderately frequent fires, and 2.40 per cent to high incidence levels. However, 35.71 per cent of India’s forests have not yet experienced significant fires.

The report also highlighted that valuable forest resources, including carbon stored in biomass, are lost to forest fires every year. This loss adversely affects the flow of goods and services from forests.

The Forest Survey of India, an organisation under the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, is primarily responsible for conducting surveys and assessments of forest resources in the country.

The NDRF, established in 2006 as a federal contingency and disaster response force, currently comprises over 18,000 rescuers deployed across the country as part of 16 battalions and 28 RRCs. The force is tasked with mitigating and combating both man-made and natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and train accidents.