Karnataka No 1 in forest fires, as per survey report

Bengaluru: The final report of the Forest Survey of India (FSI) stated that Karnataka state ranks No. 1 in the number of forest fire cases in the year 2018. The report has left central officials worried as the forest fire season has just started.

With 77 forest fires in the Karnataka tops the list, then follows Maharashtra with 34 cases. Then in line are Arunachal Pradesh 27 cases, Nagaland 24 cases and Andhra Pradesh 14 cases.  However, Karnataka is not in the top-five list of highest number of forest alerts in 2018. Here it ranks third. Punjab and Maharashtra are the top two states.

Head of Karnataka Forest Force, Punati Sridhar informed that the FSI takes satellite data and shares the alert with all states. Based on the GPS location shared, the ground staff do the checking. It has been found that in most cases, location is on the periphery of the forests. 

As per the state records, so far, over 4,000 alerts have come. Of these, 70-75% are outside the forests. Last year, there was no fire at Bandipur tiger reserve. This year, the highest number of forest fires was at Charmadi Ghat, where 100 acres were gutted.