LESSONS NOT LEARNT
Every year Jammu and Kashmir loses hundreds of acres of green cover due to wildfires and the steps taken to curb this are not proving to be adequate enough as after regular intervals reports of forest fires are surfacing from almost all the corners of the UT. There is dire need that the government should chalk out a comprehensive strategy to tackle this ever existing problem which is challenging for the society as a whole because such uncontrolled fires affect flora and fauna drastically. The problem in arid areas and some other places with pine forests and dry grasses especially during sweltering summer season becomes more complex as a simple butt of a cigarette or a burning Beedi can raze entire forest cover because many factors help in spreading simple sparks into enormous forest fires having potential to devastate animal kingdom and green gold to a great extent. No doubt, summer months often kindle forest fires but beyond any doubt the human activities aggravate the situation even more. When it is too hot or windy, sparkles from the working equipment or vehicles may ignite the dry grass or leaves and leap to large territories due to winds, causing wildfires. The problem with wildfires is that it is not always possible to spot them, understand the scope, and take actions. In this context, like many other cases, the forest fire at the Mansar forest range has become a new headache because after the lull of two days, the wildfire has resurfaced and engulfed a portion of the forest. Though, the vehicles of the Fire and Emergency Services Department along with police personal are engaged to extinguish the fire to control it from spreading further but arrangements seem to be falling short due to difficult terrain. It is pertinent to mention that a couple of days before there was a terrible fire in this forest area which caused a lot of damage to the forest and the fire had spread from Mansar to the forests of Deon Panchayat of Purmandal. Now reports have been averring that the fire again broke out and it engulfed hundreds of trees and wild animals. It is advisable that other means should be used to know exact details of the fire spread and then decide the strategy to douse the same. Aerial inspection can be of great help and therefore Indian Air Force should be roped in for the purpose as that will serve the purpose of gauging the situation and planning the appropriate solution well within the time.