Forest fire: CH Vijayshankar blames it on timber lobby

Mysuru: Former forest minister and BJP leader Mr C.H. Vijayshankar said that they suspect the timber lobby to be behind the recent forest fire in Kodagu and alleged that the state government was deliberately turning a blind eye towards the frequent forest fires  and the causes.

The former minister also demanded a few measures to protect forest wealth. Speaking to mediapersons here he said, "This year so far, 1217 hectares of forest has been destroyed due to forest fires in Bandipur and Nagarhole. In 2014, the extent of loss was 2500 hectares and it was 2900 hectares in 2012. Also in Bandipur alone there are 158 water tanks and 99 of them are dry," Mr Vijayshankar  said.

He added, "There is no doubt that the dry leaves and branches act as a catalyst for the fire to spread but this is not the first time the state is facing drought that has made the forests dry. Though there was drought in the previous year, the forest fires were not so severe. Besides the timber lobby, a conspiracy by land encroachers, lack of co-ordination between the forest officers and the tribals and people living in villages on the peripheries of the forests are contributing to forest fires. The check posts must be strengthened and tribals and people living in the villages in the peripheries of the forest must be taken into confidence. The death of forest department personnel only indicates lack of training. So there has to be an alternate force trained to handle forest fire. Lantena plants which are growing in place of chopped trees are also responsible for spreading the fire, which should be cleared," he suggested.

Mr Vijayshankar said, "While the state has 164 sanctioned Indian Forest Service(IFS) posts, there are only 99 IFS officers in the forest department at present. And the posts of 11 ACFs, 188 RFOs, 1181 DRFOs, 1056 forest guards and 159 forest observers are vacant in the State, they have to be filled," he said.