Between the first and eighth of February, the state of Odisha reported 659 separate instances of forest fires, which is the greatest number of occurrences for this time period in the preceding four years.
Since the beginning of the year, there have been over 200 instances of wildfires in the state of Odisha, with the most recent one being on February 4, 2023 in a forest reserve near the village of Anantpur.
The Kamakshyanagar Western range, which is part of the Dhenkanal district, is the administrative body that oversees the village. The fire made its way to the surrounding farms, leading locals to flee in fear. A dry paddy field served as a source of fuel for the wildfire as villagers rushed to extinguish it and warn forest officials.
According to the SNPP-VIIRS surveillance system and the information presented on the webpage of the Forest Survey of India (FSI), there have been 1,151 fire incidents that have occurred in the state since the beginning of the year.
Most recent wildfire that took place at Odisha
The most recent ones took place on Tuesday in a number of different areas, including Bhawanipatna Circle in the Nuapada district, Rourkela Circle in the Deogarh district, and Angul Circle in the Dhenkanal district.
According to the SNPP-VIIRS monitoring system, there were only 405 fire events during the course of the same time period in the previous year. When compared to the previous time period, this is a 284 percent rise in the number of fire events.
In comparison to the 4,332 wildfires that were reported during the same time period in 2018, the FSI website received reports of 10,721 fires from across the country during this time period.
What does PCFF has to say about this?
According to the principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF), Debidutta Biswal, it has been approximately one hundred days since when the state received any rain, and if the dry period continues, it is possible that additional incidents of this kind will occur. Biswal made these comments to the local news media.
He also stated earlier that he had previously told the state’s media that they have documented occurrences from approximately 200 areas in the state since January and that the situation will become even more dire if the dry period continues.
The state forest department is removing leaves from the jungle floor and constructing fire lines in all of the potentially vulnerable woods, such as the Simlipal Tiger Reserve, Phulbani, and Koraput, amongst others.