[ Chukhu Indu ]
ITANAGAR, 25 Mar: On 20 March this year, the Itanagar Capital Region (ICR) district administration had issued an advisory concerning fire hazards and the recent change in the weather conditions.
The advisory read that “on the onset of agricultural season, it is another factor where fire hazards may contribute in killing the wild animals, damaging the environment, degrading solid quality and retrograding forest regeneration.”
However, recently, there were reports of people setting forests on fire in Lobi area, apparently for jhum cultivation.
When contacted, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) RK Singh informed that “a fire alert system has been received from the Forest Survey of India and recently a report has come out, identifying that the highest forest fires is due to shifting cultivation (jhum).”
The PCCF also informed that “a forest fire action plan on climate change in Arunachal Pradesh is underway.” He said that areas vulnerable to forest fires are being identified through a mapping system.
As per the forest department, seven villages near Itanagar, including Batt, Ganga and Poma, do not come under the forest department.
Meanwhile, District Disaster Management Officer Moromi Sonam Dodum informed that a committee has been constituted in the village level, “headed by each ZPM of the area, for sensitising and minimising forest fires, and also in the official level under the department.”
According to the data received by the Itanagar fire station, there have been 31 cases of forest fires in the ICR from 2017 to 18 March, 2022. These forest fires are mostly set in smaller areas, such as orchards or bamboo gardens.
The data received by the Arunachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board (APSPCB) say that “the ambient air quality, concentrations of pollutants in the air, the air quality parameters, whether it is suspended particulate matter (SPM), no2 and so2, everything is under limit and there is no cause of alarm.”
When asked whether the emission from forest fires and accidental fire incidents would affect people’s health, APSPCB Member Secretary Koj Rinya stated that “people with comorbidity issues with respiratory problems are susceptible to health hazards, especially with the emission due to gas leakage.”
It is worth mentioning that the ambient air quality is being tested by the PCCF office in Itanagar and the pollution control board in Naharlagun.
