Wildfires: 70 hectares of forest cover affected in South Kashmir

Pulwama, Jan 24: Amidst ongoing protracted dry spell, ground fire incidents have affected many hectares of forest area in different parts of South Kashmir.
Authorities of Jammu and Kashmir Forest Department revealed to Rising Kashmir that around 70 hectares of forest area have been affected by these fire incidents reported from all four southern districts which include Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian.
The authorities attributed these fire incidents to the interplay of various natural factors .
“The moisture content in the forest ecosystem right now is less due to deficit precipitation,” Irfan Ali Shah, Conservator Forests, South Circle, said.
He added that the prevailing dryness has affected the fragile ecological system of forests by way of triggering natural fires.
He revealed that all the ground fire incidents were natural and ruled out human negligence as a possible cause.
The Conservator Forests explained that warm day temperature and deficient moisture induce drying in the needle shaped fallen leaves of various coniferous forest tree species.
He explained that the resinous dry needles accumulated on the forest surface are inflammable which catch fire by the action of intense solar radiations engulfing wild grasses and bushes too.
Shah informed that they were successful in containing these needle based ground fire incidents in South Kashmir before causing any large scale damage to forest tree species.
“A few trees were damaged, barks and low lying branches of some trees were also affected but there was no large scale damage to the tree species,” he said, adding that they have vigilant teams who respond immediately to contain the fire incidents.
Shah said that the quick response teams of their department give their blood to save the green gold from any damage.
He informed that in these forest fire fight operations around 14 forest personnel were injured.
“The injured personnel are getting best available treatment,” he said.
The Conservator Forests lauded civil administration of all the four southern districts for supporting them in addressing to the challenge of ground forest fires.
He also appreciated SDRF, Forest Protection Force and members of civil society to help them in containing the fire incidents and raising awareness among people.