It's a man-man conflict...Bandipur burns

The reason behind the fire at bandipur tiger reserve, which destroyed 750 acres, is still to be determined. encroachment of forest land, and a tense relationship between forest officials and villagers are likely causes, report shyam sundar vattam, rohan ramesh and shilpa p.

The fire of vengeance seems to be sweeping across Bandipur National Park in Gundlupet taluk of Mysore district. Preliminary estimate puts the damage to around 150 hectares of the total 1000 sq km area of the park. The fire has ravaged several trees and snuffed out the life of a forest guard. Three others are being treated at a private hospital in Mysuru for burn injuries.

"It's a man-made fire, started by miscreants at two or three spots in the national park. Dried lantena and heavy wind helped it spread. Our men are still working on the field to douse it. The exact damage will be known in two to three days", Mr T Hira Lal, director of the national park told Deccan Chronicle.

Forest fires in summertime are a common occurrence in Bandipur National Park – this has happened in 2009, 2012 and 2014. This time, heavy breeze in the sanctuary area exacerbated the problem and resulted in the death of a forest guard. Efforts are on to trace the miscreants behind this,” Mr Lal added.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden B G Hosmath said things are slowly being brought under control as fire-fighting takes place through day and night. "We are also planning to impart better training to staff members about dealing with these situations. Our department mourns the loss of a forest guard who died while extinguishing fire".

Villages surrounding forest areas have been known to share a tense relationship with forest staff, caused by the former’s lack of access to these areas for cattle grazing and other activities. Miscreants wait for the onset of summer to exact their revenge, starting fires at many places so staff members run helter-skelter to locate the spot, by which considerable damage has been caused.

A senior forest officer, on condition of anonymity, said he was present on the spot at around 10:30 pm to supervise the fire fighting. “Staff on the field couldn’t breathe as thick smoke had engulfed the area, cutting off oxygen and causing zero visibility. The heat generated was so intense that fire-fighters couldn’t go anywhere near the flames, let alone extinguish them. It seems like a man-made fire, caused to trouble the forest department,” he said.  “Fire tenders have a hard time because they cannot take their vehicles into the forest and have to remain by the road. Staff have been trained to tackle forest fires but dousing one is a Herculean task,” he said. “In the west, forest departments have small aircrafts to spray water but these things are seldom heard of here.” Steps are being taken to remove the dried lantana and prevent such fires in the fiture.

Government to probe forest fire: Minister
Forest Minister Ramanath Rai said here on Tuesday that a committee will be formed to investigate the exact cause of the fire at BandipurTiger reserve. He also said the forest department personnel will be provided with all modern facilities to deal with any emergency.

He visited the Apollo hospital here where RFO Gangadhar, and two tribals were undergoing treatment for burn injuries while fighting the fire. The two tribals, Manju and Shekar, were appointed by forest department on a temporary basis as part of an anti-poaching drive.

Rai told media persons that the government will bear the treatment expenses of the injured and provide a compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the family of the deceased, DRFO Murgesh.

‘Forest department should not oust tribals’
The recent forest fire at Bandipur destroyed nearly 750 acres of vegetation. Allegedly caused by slow-burning cow dung set alight by miscreants, the forest was ravaged by the fire. According to experts, strong steps need to be taken to that ensure forest fires are minimized and contained.

Noted filmmaker and nature evangelist Suresh Heblikar says that people who live in the forests are now finding their children moving to the towns and cities. “Kids of forest dwellers who have lived in harmony with nature are now moving to towns and cities. Because of this they are losing their natural bond and understanding with forests as they get materialistic and money-minded,’ says Heblikar.

“According to reports, the forest fires were started by locals who wanted some part of the forest land,” says Heblikar. “NGOs and the forest department are trying to oust forest-dwellers. This is wrong.” The filmmaker says that people need to be made aware. “Awareness should be created among people living in and around forests,” he remarks, adding, “Also, the forest department needs to increase the number of guards during lean months so that they have enough manpower to tackle incidents like these.”

Renowned zoologist Dr. Ullas Karanth says, “None of these forest fires arise from natural causes. They are all caused by humans. The reasons are varied: the easy collection of minor forest products, safety from elephants while entering the forest for illegal reasons, out of anger directed at forest staff etc. Some times fires start accidentally from cigarettes or beedies thrown carelessly.”

He adds, “Sometimes, forest staffs also bungle and fire control operations themselves can lead to fires.” Finally Karanth adds that leadership and planning are missing, “At present there is more than enough money and man power in the Forest Department. What is lacking is leadership, preparation, dedication and knowledge of how to manage fires. Excessive funds being pumped into a few big tiger reserves, which has, in fact, become a new problem.”

No action plan to tackle the problem: Dr. A.N. Yellappa Reddy, Former environment secretary
Over the last three decades, everyone has been talking about climate change, water scarcity and destruction of forests. But still, there is no plan. that looks toward solutions.

A lot has been said about India being the most vulnerable country when it comes to climate change. As I mentioned, there is no action plan in place even to help mitigate the problem of forest fires.

The authorities have not initiated a policy to help curb this problem. The mining policy of our government is all wrong. Mining is allowed in forests which enables people to gain entry into these areas. Even inaccessible areas which were left alone for decades are now accessible.

This is very dangerous as workers sometimes throw away burning beedis, cigarettes and matches which can result in catastrophic forest fires, like the one that happened in Bandipur the other day.

We must not allow people into these areas. As we all know, 99 per cent of forest fires are manmade. Another great crime is allowing eco-tourism when a forest fire is raging. I believe Bandipur National Park was conducting safaris during the fire.

Another reason is people encroaching forest land. Lots of locals today have encroached forest land for agriculture or whatever reason. This the forest department has not curbed. This also results in nature being exposed besides other things such as a man-animal conflict. There are no watering holes for cattleherds to graze their cattle so they too head to the forest.

The forest department and the government have to take concrete action to save forests as they play a massive part in water conservation. We all know how important forests and watershed forestry is when it comes to conserving water. Forests mean water and water is life!