Dehradun, 24 December 2024: Uttarakhand has become the leading state for forest fires, marking a dramatic rise of 74% in incidents this year, according to the Forest Survey of India (FSI).
The state jumped from 13th place last season to the top spot, with satellite data recording 21,033 fires between November 2023 and June 2024, compared to just 5,351 in the same period last year. A total of 1,808.9 sq km of forest was affected.
In neighboring Himachal Pradesh, the number of forest fires surged from 704 to 10,136 incidents, propelling the state’s rank from 24th to 8th. The fires impacted approximately 783.11 sq km of forest in the state.
Odisha recorded 20,973 forest fire incidents, down from 33,461 last season, placing it in second place. Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana rounded out the next positions with 18,950, 18,174, 16,008, 15,878, and 13,479 fires, respectively.
For the first time, the FSI has also estimated the area affected by these fires. Andhra Pradesh led with 5,286.76 sq km of damaged forest area, followed by Maharashtra at 4,095.04 sq km and Telangana at 3,983.28 sq km.
The report points to certain regions being more prone to forest fires due to factors like high temperatures and abundant fuel wood. Uttarakhand has been categorized as having the largest “very high risk” fire zone, with 2,021 sq km of its forest area under extreme threat.
Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir follow with 192 sq km and 62 sq km of land, respectively, in high-risk zones.
The FSI also noted that nearly 11.34% of India’s forest cover lies in areas with a high to extreme fire risk, including parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand.
