Gadchiroli forests set on fire for tendu plucking

NAGPUR: Even as the forest department is in its last leg of auction of tendu patta collection, forest fires have started blazing in Gadchiroli and other areas on Monday.

Tendu leaves plucking season starts from April. The fire seems to have been ignited by locals at the behest of contractors, who consider setting forests on fire results in better yield to them.

Every year thousands of hectares of forest are gutted for tendu, affecting regeneration of the green cover.

Forest fires were noticed in Markanda and Pedigudam ranges of Allapalli division, Jinganoor, Kamlapur and Dechli ranges in Sironcha division and Dhanora and Potegaon in Gadchiroli division.

Talking to TOI, chief conservator of forests (CCF), Gadchiroli circle, WI Yatbon, admitted that there have been incidents of fire, but owing to SMS alerts from the Forest Survey of India (FSI), the staff has been able to respond in time.

“Till last year, Gadchiroli was in top 10 districts in the country for forest fires but if you look at the latest Global Fire Watch portal, Gadchiroli doesn’t even figure among the major fire alert districts of Maharashtra ,” said Yatbon.

As per the Global Fire Watch, between March 3 and 10, 2019, Maharashtra received 1,637 fire alerts and most of them were in Satara (179), Kolhapur (174), Ratnagiri (145), Raigarh (118) and Pune (104).

However, in Gadchiroli the fire started raging on Monday. TOI has already reported that there is under-reporting of forest fires by the staff fearing action.

Yatbon admitted that on Monday at least 9 fires alerts were received. “We are working on extinguishing the fires, barring some remote and sensitive areas where timely intervention is not possible,” he said.

However, wildlife activists told TOI, on condition of anonymity, that many forest parts in Gadchiroli were still raging as the beat area is too big to monitor for meagre staff. Secondly, in many areas where road connectivity was poor, the officials were finding it difficult to reach.