For the last one month, reports of raging forest fires have been reported from various parts of the state. Even the forest near the state capital has not been spared. Most of these fires originate from the fire set for jhum cultivation by the farmers. The fires cause massive loss to the forest and wildlife. However, this is not a new phenomenon and it happens every year. The environment and forests department has simply failed to stop this practice.
Also, they never try to punish the people behind such fires. This emboldens the wrongdoers. People have been making noise on social media, appealing to the forest department to take an initiative to stop forest fires, but there is complete silence on its part. The department cannot afford to maintain silence and shun its responsibilities. It is time the people of the state stopped the practice of setting forests on fire. As the department has failed to stop it, the villagers will have to find ways to put an end to it. In the last few years, the people of the state at the grassroots level have taken measures to stop hunting and fishing. They did it without the support of any government authorities. The same method should be adopted to stop forest fires.