Nearly three years after being suggested byLok SabhaMPs to have such an alert mechanism, the Environment ministry has set up a national helpline forforest firecases in the country. The move will help forest officials to reach the spot faster and prevent the fires from spreading.
A toll free number (18001 19334) – assigned for the helpline – can also be used to report cases of illegal trade and poaching of animals.
As far as forest fire is concerned, nearly 36% (2,53,151 sq. km) of the forest cover in India is considered prone to forest fires. There are 26 most forest fire affected districts, spread over 11 states, in India. The forest fire season in the country is normally from November to June with the majority of it being caused due to man-made factors.
North-eastern states show the highest tendency of forest fire with Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya and Manipur reporting highest forest fire Probability in terms of its frequency.
According to theForest Survey of India(FSI) that has been assisting state forest departments and other agencies to deal with the problem since 2004, parts of western Maharashtra, southern part of Chhattisgarh, central part of Odisha and few parts ofAndhra Pradesh, and Karnataka are showing patches of extremely and very highly fire prone zones.