At least 5,318 hectares of notified forest land in Maharashtra have been affected by wildfires between January and March this year, according to forest department data.
This marks a 74% percent increase from the 3,056 hectares of forest land affected during the same period in 2020, the data showed. However, fire counts (in ) correspondingly went up by 16% this year, indicating significantly more intense incidents this year.
As per the data, Gadchirolis Sironcha forest division was the most affected, with 551 hectares of land coming under the influences of forest fires. The Nagpur forest division (under the Nagpur circle) and the Jalgaon forest division (under Dhule circle) also faced comparable losses, with 398 and 447 hectares of area lost to fire, respectively. The same figures for these divisions during January to March last year stood at 5 and 24 hectares respectively.
Notably this year, even areas like Melghat, where the fire department has seen relative success in mitigating the impact of forest fires in recent year, are once again seeing an uptick in the quantum of forest area affected by wildfires.