India recorded 82,170 forest fire alerts from April 1 to 14, nearly doubling from 43,031 in the same period in 2020. Forest fires, wildfires and their alerts in the country have gone up sharply in recent times, posing a serious threat to our environment, wildlife and biodiversity
Firefighters and forest officials struggled to control fires in the Similipal Biosphere Reserve, about 200 km away from Bhubaneswar, Odisha, earlier this year
Image: STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images
With her arms stretched wide, a content smile on her lips and moist eyes, an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer looked up and thanked the pouring skies in March. Her little dance of joy in the rain-washed jungle went viral on social media. There was reason for her to turn emotional.
Arun Lohra, 25, from the tribal community at Lohardaga district, however, is not happy with the scheme. He concedes that his community is guilty of causing forest fires. He says they kill animals with giant fires and set dry leaves on fire to collect Madhuca indica flowers, locally known as mahua, used to make toddy, a kind of alcohol. “The machines are not working at the briquetting plant and there is no demand for briquettes in the market… where do we sell them? At first we were excited about this opportunity, but soon realised we aren’t getting anything out of it,” says Lohra, who earns his livelihood from agricultural activities. He emphasises that not everyone from the tribal community is responsible for forest fires. There are people like him who want them to stop. The last fire, he adds, took place 15 days ago and it took two days to bring it under control.
(This story appears in the 04 June, 2021 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)