Manipur ranks third in incidences of forest fire... Scores dubious rank in country

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, May 3: Manipur ranks third in reporting most number of forest fires between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020.
According to forest fire alert portal - FAST (Forest Fire Alerts System) of the Forest Survey of India, Manipur recorded as many as 8,372 forest fires between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020.
Manipur ranks third behind Maharashtra (first) and Telangana (second) while Assam ranks fourth.
What is alarming is that there is a sudden spike in the number of forest fire in the State. In a short period of time between April 1 and 13 this year, Manipur has seen at least 3,823 forest fire incidents with 99.9 percent of them reported to be man made, said Central Forest Circle, Manipur, Conservator of Forest L Joykumar.
According to the FAST data provided by the forest official, during April 1-13, Ukhrul and Kamjong combined reported 943 forest fires, Churachandpur and Pherzawl - 907, Tengnoupal and Chandel-885, Kangpokpi-358, Tamenglong and Noney-301, Senapati-246, Central (Imphal East and Imphal West)-73, Thoubal and Kakching-63, Jiribam-34 and Bishnupur-13.
During April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020, Churachandpur and Pherzawl districts combined reported 2,377 forest fire incidents-the highest in the State. Ukhrul and Kamjong district reported 1,573 cases while Tengnoupal and Chandel reported 1,401 cases.
Tamenglong and Noney reported 1,110, Kangpokpi-616, Jiribam-492, Senapati-459, Central (Imphal East and Imphal West)-159, Thoubal and Kakching-137 and Bishnupur reported-48.
Manipur has about a total area of 17,418 square kilometres of forest area. Of this, 1,477 square kilometres are Reserved Forest area while 4,171 square kilometres are Protected Forest area. 11,770 square kilometres are Unclassed Forest, he said.
For information, Unclassed Forest means a forest land owned by the Government or such land whose ownership is vested with village community\chief, the boundary of which is demarcated by the Government but not constituted into reserved or protected forests. Amid spike in the number of man made forest fire, the Forest Department is also facing encroachment issues, Joykumar said.
So far, the Department has evicted 76 encroachers from Heingang Reserved Forest, 36 from Langol Reserved Forest, Iroishemba and 74 from Awaching under  Nongmaiching Reserved Forest, he said.
According to FRA (Forest Rights Act), only Scheduled Tribe people are allowed to stay inside land demarcated as Reserved Forest and Protected Forest provided they have been staying or living in the area prior to December 13, 2005, he said. Due to lack of proper information and knowledge about the FRA, people have been encroaching on the Reserved Forest and Protected Forest areas, he said adding a proper verification is needed to identify encroachers.
Those encroachers who have not been staying/living prior to December 13, 2005 in the Reserved Forest and Protected Forest should be evicted following law and relevant Act, he said. Commenting on the harmful effects of burning forest/forest fire, he said 99.9 percent of the incidents are man made in the State. Chances of natural fire is negligible in the State, he claimed.
Hill districts report highest number of forest fire in Manipur. Forest areas are usually burnt for jhum cultivation, illegal poppy plantation and other activities related to agriculture, he said adding the shrinking forest area is a serious issue which all should study and avoid at all cost.
Recently, a staff of Koirengei Forest Beat, Hawaibam Thomson fainted  when fighting fire, he said adding forest staff are on vigil amidst the lockdown due to coronavirus.