A major fire was reported in Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary on Monday, which continues to spread at many other locations along the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats, causing heavy damage to the flora and fauna, also spreading panic amongst locals.
This could have been possibly triggered by a forest labourer or a farmer or perhaps even a traveller, who may have used inflammable substances or could have lit fire to burn dry waste. The dry conditions and the prevailing heat wave could have added fuel to the fire.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
After thorough investigation, the reason for the fire will be known and it is hoped that the offender is held and duly punished to set an example to prevent repeat offences. But the entire forest fire incident and its handling puts a big question mark on the State’s disaster management ability.
Be it floods or fire, the State government is always caught napping. There is no denying the fact that the extreme weather events triggered by climate change have already caused substantial damage to the State. But every time a disaster happens, the government is found scurrying for answers.
Every time, the civil administration is seen rushing to the armed forces for help. It has been seen during floods when the Indian Navy was called in for rescue and relief operations. Now during the forest fire, we are seeing that the government is seeking help from the Indian Navy and the Air Force to douse the fire.
But the question is where the State government’s resources are? In an emergency, every minute is crucial. By the time the damage is assessed and the requisition is sent to the defence authorities for help, crucial time is lost in the formalities.
Neither forest fires are uncommon in Goa. Yet, the preparedness for an emergency situation seems to be lacking every time. Certainly, disaster management is not an area where the government can afford to be a ‘susegad’. It is a serious business. Properties worth lakhs and innocent lives are lost whenever there is a delay in responding to a disaster, be it man-made or natural. It seems, we do not have a disaster management plan at all.
While forest fires are not an uncommon phenomenon, its intensity and the damage it is and will cause is a matter of concern, which can’t be ignored. For that, the State government has to widen its climate change mitigation programme to tackle extreme weather events, which not only covers flooding but also drought-like conditions.
Goa’s forests are its lungs and lifeline. There is a need to strengthen the forest department by providing more forest guards, patrolling vehicles, arms to prevent poaching and adequate water for the animals.
A depleted Forest department is certainly hurting Goa. The State does not have enough staff which will work at the ground level. There is an urgent need for the government to not only recruit more staff, but also equip them with modern surveillance devices to monitor the huge tracts of forest land. The Forest staff patrol the sanctuaries, but with the limited staff and equipment, they are handicapped.
There are watch towers, but there are hardly any personnel to man them. These watch towers have to be equipped with binoculars and other surveillance equipment. These are currently unavailable. How are they supposed to cover all the forest areas with such a depleted work force and inadequate equipment?
On one hand, the central government has been running Project Tiger to save the big cat, a tigress and her three cubs were killed in the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary in 2020, which led to alarm bells ringing among the tiger conservation community. The Forest department had no clue about such a massive incident in its own backyard. This was a big blot on Goa’s face, especially its Forest Department. But it seems we haven’t learnt any lessons.
The debate rages on whether the current forest fires are the result of climate change, but it has a direct connection with forest fires. The Goa State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) in 2020 itself had cautioned authorities on the vulnerability of Goa’s forests to fires that could get triggered due to climate change by 2040.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) had warned in its annual Frontiers report released last year that wildfires could worsen in the coming years and decades. Wildfires seldom spread to humid tropical forests in the past. But these forests are now more vulnerable due to deforestation and forest fragmentation. Extreme weather events such as hotter temperatures and more droughts lead to longer fire seasons.
Forest fires was reported from Rajasthan’ Sariska Tiger Reserve, Odisha’s Similipal Wildlife Sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh’s Ladkui jungles and the forest areas of the Majhgawan region of Satna district last year.
With the changing climatic conditions indicating hotter days to come in the future, the Goa government has to learn its lessons from this accident and get its act together.
