UTTARAKHAND FOREST FIRE 2016

❖ INTRO
The 2016 Uttarakhand forest fires were a series of
widespread, damaging wildfires that took place in
Uttarakhand, India between April and May. The fires
were caused by a heatwave that spread across
Uttarakhand and were the worst recorded in the
region with a reported 4,538 hectares (11,210 acres) of
forest burnt down and seven people dead.It has been
noted that 3500 hectares has been destroyed by the
fire.

❖ HISTORY
these fires went largely unchecked and spread from
the pine forests on the slopes of the sub-Himalayan
region to the oak and broadleaf forests which
resulted in heavy clouds of smoke that changed the
usually blue skies to grey. This smoke affected
tourism within the state and fearing bad publicity,
the locals did not report the fires.
The Uttarakhand forest fires had also come as India
suffered one of its worst droughts in years with the
government noting over 330 million were affected
by water shortages. In Uttarakhand incidence of
forest fire this year has been very bad. Fire
smashed nearly 4,000 hectare of forest cover
across 13 districts and killed 9 and injured 17
people along with damaging biodiversity and forest
ecosystems very significantly. The frequency of
forest fire in Uttarakhand during April 2016 was
much higher and widespread than during April
2015. During April 2015, forest fire points were
identified only in two districts viz. Nainital and
Udham Singh Nagar with 1 and 6 fire points
respectively, whereas during same period of
current year forest fire spread over 13 districts
with a maximum number of fire points observed
in Pauri Garhwal followed by Nainital.Thus
around 32% of the total 1270 fire points were
observed in Pauri Garhwal followed by around 22%
in Nainital during April of the current year.

❖ CAUSES
 Forest fires caused by humans in the
Himalayan state of Uttarakhand have been a
regular event. Since the formation of the state
in 2000, more than 44,518 hectares (110,010
acres) of forest land has been lost to fire.
Most of these fires occur in the chir pine
(Pinus roxburghii) zone which is prone to fire.
But the pine itself is resistant to the fire.
Instead of harming them, these fires help in
their regeneration by reducing coverage of
broad-leaf trees, which leads to an increase in
the land covered by chir pine and oak.
A major cause for the fires was attributed to
the record high temperatures and severe lack
of rainfall due to a dry winter.

❖ IMPACT

Fires directly destroy biodiversity and have indirect

long-term impacts, including the encouragement
of fire and pioneer species. It has been suggested
that the dark carbon dust emitted by the fires
deposited on Himalayan glaciers could hasten the
glaciers' melting. This could affect the hydrology of
the rivers that are a source of water for human
populations in northern India.[29] The average
temperature of northern India saw an increase of
0.2 °C. Every year forest fires in Uttrakhand causes
great loss to the forest ecosystem, diversity of
flora and fauna and economic wealth. Forest fire is
one of the major disasters in the forests of
Uttarakhand. High temperatures with no
atmospheric moisture were one of the important
reason for forest fires in Uttrakhand.

❖ CONCLUSION
Forest fires have been a local issue with global
impact, which will continue to increase more
frequently than the recent past due to
impact of rising temperature and global
warming. Most of the forest fires in Indian
state of Uttarakhand are anthropogenic in
nature. Extreme dry weather, low seasonal
rain and vapour pressure deficit followed by
burning of pine needles, burning of litter and
shading of plants by local people and
unsustainable forest conservation policy are
all responsible for forest fire in Uttarakhand.
Changes in the attitudes and actions of
individuals, stakeholder groups, the private
sector, and governments are required for
action and implementation of sustainable
forest fire prevention policies. Prevention
of forest fire will require long term
coordinated efforts by public and private
authorities with robust planning and
informed policy implementation.