Greens write to PM Narendra Modi on poor management of forest fires

MANGALURU: The National Environment Care Federation (NECF) has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the poor management of forest fires in the country. The NECF and other like-minded groups have been urging the state government to introduce choppers to fight forest fires for several years. In the letter to PM Modi, NECF said that the existing assets of the Indian Air Force could be made available to douse the forest fire.
In the letter, Shashidhar Shetty, secretary, NECF stated, "In spite of huge resources available, especially with the Indian Air Force, no concrete steps are taken to prevent or douse forest fires. The responsibility of forest fires should be given to more resourceful authorities like the Indian Air Force or the NDRF." A copy of the letter has been sent to the minister of environment, chief secretary and additional chief secretary, Karnataka.
Shetty said, "Over the years, on several occasions, we have written to the state government, asking them to introduce choppers to douse forest fires, as the operation will be quick, and we will be able to save several acres of forests in our fragile Western Ghats, but all our demands have fallen on deaf ears. It is important to use technology for monitoring, and reduce response time. At present, though the forest officials get alerts, reaching the spot is time consuming. Also, since the Coast Guard has a presence along the coastline, we urge the elected representatives to request the defence ministry to make arrangements, so that the choppers can be used to fight forest fires, in case of an emergency. In other parts of the state, the resources from the nearest air base must be put to use. It is unfortunate that our forest staff are still using the traditional methods to fight forest fires, after walking on long treks," he said.
A forest fire reported in Charmadi Ghat in December last year, has left the greens worried, mainly because it rained till mid-November.
"We are witnessing climate change and forest fires are reported in almost all ranges. Forest fires are reported as early as in December, as against April or May, about a decade ago. The impact will be a long-term one, especially, since the catchment areas and the water source points are affected, leading to the ecological imbalance," Shetty said.