The last round of Lok Sabha voting is scheduled for June 1, but despite the heated political climate in the state, environmental concerns related to the Himachal Pradesh forest fires have received little attention in the conversation.

The flora and animals of the state have been seriously impacted by the roaring flames, especially in the central belt’s chir pines. This year’s forest fire started a month early because to a period of dry weather.

Since April, 627 forest fire incidents have been reported throughout the state. The districts of Shimla, Solan, Bilaspur, Mandi, and Kangra have a higher concentration of them.

As of May 22, forest officials reported that 6,048 hectares of forest area had lost all of its flora and animals due to forest fires. The department has calculated a ₹1,40, 88,628 loss.

Kangra, Hamirpur, Mandi worst hit

A maximum of 159 fire occurrences were reported in the Kangra district’s Dharamshala Circle, resulting in the burning of 289.5 hectares of plantation land. Following Hamirpur, which had 115 fires, Mandi had 93, Nahan had 82, Bilaspur had 60, Solan had 58, Chamba had 21, Shimla had 20, Rampur had 10, WL South had 4, WL North had 1, and Kullu had 1.

Around the middle of April to the end of May, as the temperature starts to rise, pine trees typically start to lose their pine needles. Those pines’ high resin content makes them extremely flammable. The practice of burning rubbish by the communities residing near these forests is another aspect of the issue, as heaps of needles dispersed over the forest terrain are prone to catching fire.

Natural fire occurrences don’t happen very often. People purposefully and unintentionally starting fires are the main cause of these accidents. For healthy fodder grass growth, people frequently set woodlands on fire, according to Conservator Forest (Fires) Nishant Mandotra. “We have taken appropriate steps to prevent forest fire incidents, and we are hopeful that the dry spell will end.”

There are 2,026 forest beats in Himachal. Of these, 1,020 are less likely to experience forest fires, 667 are sensitive, and 339 are extremely sensitive.

Mandi tops the list with 82 susceptible beats, followed by Shimla (49), Wildlife Dharamshala (17), Kullu (12), Hamirpur (9), and Great Himalayan National Park (9). Dharamshala also leads the list with 37, Rampur 35, Nahan 32, Bilaspur 27, and Chamba 18.

Alarm bells ringing

The alarm has been raised by the sheer quantity of incidents.

“Over 50 different social and environmental organizations and individuals from the Himalayan states and other parts of the country are running a campaign, ‘People for Himalayas,’ to draw the attention of the political parties towards issues related to the environment,” says Manshi Asher, an environmental justice activist and researcher who has been active since 1998.

He hopes that environmental issues will be given more attention in politics. “The past year, 2023, began with the spotlight on the horrific land subsidence in Joshimath, Uttarakhand, followed by a series of disasters in Himachal in July and August,” he says.

“The effects of the region’s dry winters in 2024—which will see little to no snowfall—will be obvious. The Himalayan region is still confronted with questions about the effects of these calamities and their structural causes, says Asher, who works for the Himdhara, Environment Research and Action Collective in Palampur.

Speaking about the numerous forest fires that are causing irreversible damage in Shimla, Solan, and other areas, chief spokesperson for the Bharatiya Janata Party Mahendra Dharmani noted that “there are multifaceted repercussions of the fires, it causes peril to both wildlife and the environment.” In addition to causing the immediate loss of forest cover, the fires have set off a chain reaction that is endangering essential water supplies and even affecting glaciers because of the extreme heat.

He continues, “This cascading threat not only jeopardizes the fragile ecosystem, but also the state’s treasured water, forest, and land heritage.”

For food, animals move to farmlands.

In pursuit of food, wild animals have also been compelled by forest fires to approach human communities. Farmers are concerned because the animals are causing damage to crops in the fields, particularly in the areas surrounding the capital where crops like as tomatoes, beans, capsicum, cabbage, onions, cucumbers, and okra are cultivated.

The forest agency claims that the wild animals have been forced to relocate to farmlands due to the flames’ lack of food supply. In the forests that have been most severely damaged by the fires are species of animals such as hares, wild boars, barking deer, ghoral, and porcupines.

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