Forest fires rage across Maharashtra as forest department looks on helplessly

NAGPUR: Even as tendu leaf auctions are processed, forest fires have been raging in entire Maharashtra. Though fire incidents have been detected since January, the frequency has increased in the last 15-20 days as auctions for tendu leaves have started.
In the last 15 days, 134 tendu units have been sold through three rounds of auction generating a meagre Rs30 crore royalty.

Forest areas having tendu units are set on fire at the behest of contractors, in the belief that this gives better yield. Forest fires have completely stopped regeneration of forests in the state. In Western Maharashtra, most of the fires are for collection of apta leaves.
Vast tracts of territorial forests in Maharashtra, right from Thane in the west to Gadchiroli in the east, are still burning. As per the real-time alerts received by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) through satellite data, in the last 10 days over 1,800 fires have been detected. Fires have been reported in all 14 forest and wildlife circles in the state.
Fires were reported since November 2022, but the gravity increased after February 2023, when over 3,900 fire alerts or incidents were reported, followed by 5,500 in March, and over 1,300 in the last 5 days.
“It is true that there has been a spurt in forest fires over the last few days but most of the incidents are on non-forest and agricultural lands. We are maintaining data on fire alerts but the total forest area actually affected is yet to be calculated,” said Pravin Chavan, APCCF (protection).
Chavan said, “From January to December 2022, over 23,800 hectares of forest area was affected in 7,450 fire incidents. The entire loss was pegged at more than Rs50 lakh. Melghat Tiger Reserve is the worst affected with 4,346 hectares burning in forest fires.”
However, senior forest officials themselves admit the actual area destroyed in ground fires is always concealed, and only one-fourth of it is shown on record by the field staff fearing disciplinary action.
Currently, big forest fires have been reported from all forest divisions, especially tendu patta dominated Gondia, Bramhapuri, Central Chanda, Chandrapur, Bhandara, Sironcha, Allapalli, Wadsa, Gadchiroli, Nagpur, and Bhamragarh divisions.
"As per the tender conditions for tendu leaf auction, if forest fires are reported in any auctioned units, the auction is cancelled outright. But this never happens due to the alliance between forest officials and contractors. We've never seen such retaliatory action from forest officials," said senior officials.
Mandar Pingle, a member of the anti-fire committee in Pench, said, "The raging fires will increase man-animal conflict in worst-affected Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts where already 90% of the conflict deaths have occurred. It will also affect tigers and wildlife in corridors. In PAs, such incidents are low, as communities have been roped in to avoid fires by giving incentives."
"My observation for the last decade is that conflict has flared up in divisions like Bramhapuri and Chandrapur, where fires incidents are high," said Pingle.
Nature lover Shyamala Sanyal said, "I saw a huge fire on the hills near Kelwad on the Maharashtra-MP border a few days ago but there was no forest staff to extinguish it. The fire was raging the entire night."
Gadchiroli ex-honorary warden Uday Patel says, "The forest department will not get even the administrative expenses from this year from tendu auction."