A massive forest fire broke out in the vicinity of Dirang village in West Kameng, which took hours to be brought under control. The fire, which started near the Nadipar forest, spread rapidly due to strong winds, making it impossible for the ill-equipped firefighters to control the blaze.
It was finally brought under control after hours of hard work put in by personnel from the police, the ITBP, and the SSB, along with local residents of Dirang and fire tenders from Bomdila.
According to Global Forest Watch, from 2001 to 2023, Arunachal Pradesh lost 4.61 kha of tree cover from fires and 258 kha from all other drivers of loss. The year, with the most tree cover loss due to fires during this period was 2017, with 452 ha lost to fires – 2.4% of all tree cover loss for that year.
It is often assumed that forest fires and tree cover loss are caused by jhum, but this is far from the truth. While forest fires are rarely accidental, the spell of the dry season has become longer, making the forest very vulnerable to fire. Once a fire breaks out, in the absence of firefighting equipment, it becomes extremely difficult to bring it under control. The fire alert system needs to be strengthened, and traditional ways of fire control need to be revived.