look news india
Uttarakhand forest fire: The fire in the forests of Uttarakhand has caused devastation. The fire became so severe that the Air Force's MI-17 helicopter had to be called. Apart from this, due to the fire, more than seven hundred and fifty hectares of area got affected by the fire, hence the NDRF team was also sent there. Still the forests were furious. However, due to rain, there has been a 64 percent reduction in fire incidents in 24 hours.
What is the cause of fire?
Pine trees are abundant in the forests of Uttarakhand. The British grew pine and cedar forests to produce wood and coal. Apart from being very useful, these trees also cause a lot of harm.
These pine trees are called Pirul in the local language. A liquid called Lisa comes out from the leaves of this tree which is found in abundance in the leaves of the tree. For this reason it catches fire quickly. Also, due to increasing global warming, fire has broken out in the beautiful forests here and has spread rapidly.
Revealed in the study of IIT Roorkee
Professor Piyush Srivastava of the Department of Center of Excellence in Disaster Mitigation and Management, IIT Roorkee, and Prime Minister Research Fellow Anandu Prabhakaran studied these forest fires. In which he said that from 2013 to 2022, about 23 thousand hectares of forest in Uttarakhand has been affected by fire.
Many factors are responsible for fire
There are many reasons for fire. It includes complex topography, mixed forests with different vegetation, slopes, dry foliage, cypress and cedar trees, seasonal changes, and accidental or deliberate fires.
Apart from this, the professor said that like every type of weather, forest fire also has its season. It's wildfire season. In India this season usually lasts from November to June. Due to which incidents of fire keep happening in different forests across the country. This fire season in Uttarakhand falls in February, March, April and May. During this period, incidents of fire increase.
El Nino has increased the heat. Heat wave is going on. Due to which the temperature increases. Rainfall in winter season has reduced in this area. The situation was similar in 2015-16 also. After that, in 2016 alone, there was a fire in 4400 hectares of forest.
What will be the result of the fire?
Summer fires weaken the soil and surface of the mountains. After this, when it rains, this soil becomes dangerous. Landslide occurs. Besides, the possibility of flood also increases. Along with this, dirty soil flows into the rivers. Due to which the quality of water of rivers deteriorates.
How can fire incidents be prevented?
If the local people present in the mountains get accurate information about the weather, then they should also be given information about the fire season. Also, local people should take precautions like not burning garbage, not smoking in the forests etc.
When can a forest fire occur? Where can it be found in the area? In this regard, professors of IIT Roorkee are creating an indigenous early warning system. Which will be a special type of computer model. Which will be able to predict forest fire by entering the latest data of accurate temperature, weather conditions, geographical location. So that preparations can be made to avoid this. Apart from this, ISRO-NASA's new satellite NISAR can also help in the future.