2016 Uttarakhand forest fires
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The 2016 Uttarakhand forest fires were a series of widespread, damaging
wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...
s that took place in
Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
between April and May. The fires were caused by a
heatwave A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in th ...
that spread across Uttarakhand and were the worst recorded in the region with a reported of forest burnt down and seven people dead. Officials detected nearly 1,600 total fires which were brought under control by 2 May, and as rain fell the following day, it reduced the impact of the wildfires. An initial report on 4 May noted that had been destroyed by the fire.


History and causes

Forest fires caused by humans in the Himalayan state of
Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...
have been a regular event. Since the formation of the state in 2000, more than of forest land has been lost to fire. Some fires during 1921, 1930, and 1942 have been associated with popular movements against the then British government's forestry policies and as a call for independence. Most of these fires occur in the chir pine (''Pinus roxburghii'') zone which is prone to fire. But the
pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...
itself is resistant to the fire. Instead of harming them, these fires help in their regeneration by reducing coverage of broad-leaf trees, which leads to an increase in the land covered by
chir pine ''Pinus roxburghii'', commonly known as chir pine or longleaf Indian pine, is a species of pine tree native to the Himalayas. It was named after William Roxburgh. Description ''Pinus roxburghii'' is a large tree reaching with a trunk diameter ...
and
oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
. The broad-leaved forest is dominated by oak species, including Banj oak ('' Quercus leucotrichophora'').
Resin In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on n ...
is harvested from these pines, and fires are often intentionally set to remove the carpet of pine needles that come in the way of harvesting activity. In June 1981, a blanket ban was introduced against the felling of standing trees 1000 meters above sea level, a ban that prohibits the removal of pine trees in the areas where they are invading. Apart from accidental fires, several causes and motivations for setting fires have been noted which include encroachment on forest lands and concealing illegal timber extraction. Major illicit timber trade relies on pine forests since it is often used for construction. A major cause for the fires was attributed to the record high temperatures and severe lack of rainfall due to a dry winter. The Uttarakhand forest fires had also come as India suffered one of its worst droughts in years with the government noting over 330 million were affected by water shortages.


Early 2016 events and controversy

The forest fires began on February 2, 2016, and went initially unnoticed for several weeks, while
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
was in a state of outrage over the
presidential rule President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...
which had been imposed on Uttarakhand Consequently, these fires went largely unchecked and spread from the pine forests on the slopes of the sub-Himalayan region to the oak and broadleaf forests which resulted in heavy clouds of smoke that changed the usually blue skies to grey. This smoke affected tourism within the state and fearing bad publicity, the locals did not report the fires. The conservationist Ela Smetacek started a public awareness campaign to highlight the damage from the fires calling on the
Indian government The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...
to address the issue. He
Facebook post
was shared over 58,000 times as it showed the entire hillsides ablaze with walls of flames engulfing even the tallest trees. The campaign gathered widespread support from social media users and Indian media which led to a series of claims and counter-claims between the environment minister, the conservationist, and other activists ensued, as Smetacek blamed the timber and builder mafia for the purposely-lit fires, stating that 1,300 fires could be seen from satellite pictures and that an arson attack across the state was evident. The post demanding the fires be recognized as a national emergency, and the need of immediate deployment of NDRF teams, led to the government taking action, deploying the
National Disaster Response Force The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is an Indian specialized force constituted "for the purpose of special response to a threatening disaster situation or disaster" under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The "Apex Body for Disaster M ...
and making use of Indian Air Force Mi-17 helicopters fitted with "Bambi buckets" to douse the fires with water. Seven fatalities were reported . The Pinegrove School, a boarding school at Kasauli, was evacuated as fires had reached its compound walls. Tourism and wildlife at the
Jim Corbett National Park Jim Corbett National Park is a national park in India located in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand state. The first national park in India, it was established in 1936 during the British Raj and named ''Hailey National Park'' after Willia ...
and Rajaji Tiger reserve regions were affected. Various other locations in these Himalayan states of Uttarakhand and
Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...
are tourist attractions in summer, and they now face heavy air pollution. The forest fires also disrupted the functioning of the Kalka–Shimla Railway line. On 3 May, the forest department estimated the monetary losses at approximately . The estimate is based on the standard rule book followed by the department with empirical formulae for such calculations. Various ecologists and environmental activists have disregarded the estimate, noting that it does not take into account
ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
and wildlife losses. They added that these fires have also destroyed
vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characte ...
which holds rainfall, which might result in floods in the monsoon season. Scientists of the Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development formed a team to survey the area and study the effects of the fires on the melting of glaciers. Ecologists suggested that clearing of forest floors of the fallen pine leaves, which are readily combustible, should be undertaken by the forest department as well as locals on a grassroots level to prevent such major fire outbreaks. Production of
biomass briquettes Biomass briquettes are a biofuel substitute to coal and charcoal. Briquettes are mostly used in the developing world, where cooking fuels are not as easily available. There has been a move to the use of briquettes in the developed world, where ...
from these pine needles should be promoted, serving as a source of fuel as well as a solution to prevent wildfires. On 30 April, the
National Disaster Response Force The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is an Indian specialized force constituted "for the purpose of special response to a threatening disaster situation or disaster" under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The "Apex Body for Disaster M ...
was deployed for rescue operations in the
Kumaon Kumaon or Kumaun may refer to: * Kumaon division, a region in Uttarakhand, India * Kumaon Kingdom, a former country in Uttarakhand, India * Kumaon, Iran, a village in Isfahan Province, Iran * , a ship of the Royal Indian Navy during WWII See also ...
and Garhwal areas. Around 6,000 personnel from the Forest Department were deployed. , 922 incidences of fire were reported affecting around of forest area. The Mi-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force with "Bambi buckets" were used to douse the fires with water. However, the heavy smog that developed in the area affected the aerial operations of the army. The affected area later increased to around , extending into
Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...
. The regions saw rainfalls on 3 May ranging from 7mm to 11mm, which helped in controlling the fire. Soaring temperatures reignited the forest fires on 18 May 2016 covering an area of nearly 180 hectares of green land spreading over 111 districts. Rangers and Divisional Forest Officers rush to the spot and extinguish the fire as soon as possible to reduce the damage done. This was the result of the temperatures of Uttarakhand which were about 4 to 5 degrees higher than the average temperatures at this time of the year. According to government sources, the forest fires combined have destroyed nearly 4,048 hectares of land, in 1,857 incidents. Subsequently, the World Bank granted 500 crores rupees (US$75M) to the Uttarakhand forest department to research the cause of the forest fires, which was later increased by 600 crores (US$90M). The Indian central government later announced a series of funds amounting to over 50,000 crores (US$7.5B) to go towards afforestation across the state of Uttarakhand and the country.


Controversy and long term impact

Reports were published in the local media which variously blamed both the local people and timber companies for the forest fires. Environmental journalist
Bahar Dutt Bahar Dutt (born 20 June 1975) is an Indian television journalist and environmental editor and columnist for CNN-IBN. Early life Bahar Dutt is the daughter of SP Dutt and Prabha Dutt, who was among India's first female journalists and influen ...
blamed the television media for their "Delhi centrist world view" that disregarded the historical and ecological natural causes of fire, due to the high density of pine trees that increases the fire hazards. Various tourism-related associations suggested that the exaggerated representation of the fires by the media could reduce tourism, a major part of the state economy. Part of a team of conservationists and
biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...
s who studied the private and state forests since 1950, Smetacek maintained forest fires did not occur naturally in the geographical topography of the region concerned. Natural fires are not seen anywhere in Indian forests, she added. The introduction of pine trees by the British caused a more volatile fuel to the (man-made) fires. Fires directly destroy biodiversity and have indirect long-term impacts, including the encouragement of fire and pioneer species. It has been suggested that the dark carbon dust emitted by the fires deposited on Himalayan glaciers could hasten the glaciers' melting. This could affect the
hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is call ...
of the rivers that are a source of water for human populations in northern India. The average temperature of northern India saw an increase of 0.2 °C.


See also

*
List of wildfires This is a list of notable wildfires. Asia China *1987 – The Black Dragon Fire started in China and burnt a total of of forest along the Amur river, with destroyed on the Chinese side. Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of Chin ...
* 2019 Bandipur forest fires


References

{{Disasters in India in 2016 2016 disasters in India 2016 wildfires April 2016 events in India Fires in India History of Uttarakhand (1947–present) Disasters in Uttarakhand May 2016 events in India Natural disasters in India Disasters in Himachal Pradesh Wildfires in India