In the middle of winter, Bandipur is bracing for a torrid summer in the months ahead so as to deal with the spectre of forest fires to which the famous tiger reserve is susceptible.
The cold weather is the best time to draw the fire lines and clear vegetation through controlled burning, which is the first line of defence in preventing a major forest fire from spreading.
Fire lines are spaces bereft of vegetation that is removed through controlled burning during winter. The aim is to segregate the forest into small blocks. Even if a fire breaks out, the idea is to contain it to one block.
This exercise is carried out only during winter when the vegetation is dry. The cold weather prevents a fire from getting out of control.
In case of a forest fire during summer, the fire lines — patches of land that are devoid of vegetation — act as a natural fire-breakers, and prevent the flames from spreading.
“In Bandipur, the fire line stretches nearly 2,850 km. Almost 80% of the work has been completed. The remaining will be completed by the first or the second week of January,” said Dr. Ramesh Kumar, Director, Bandipur Tiger Reserve.
Apart from drawing fire lines, which is done in most national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, the Forest Department will rope in 475 temporary watchers from villages abutting Bandipur. They will be hired on contract basis. They will remain in service till the onset of the south west monsoon when the threat of forest fire diminishes.
The temporary watchers are recruited from among tribals living on the fringes of forests. They are paid wages, besides ration, and are deployed along with regular staff.
‘’In addition, we have also sought deployment of fire engines or fire trucks from the Fire and Emergency Services department. In 2022, as many as 14 such vehicles were deployed across different divisions of Bandipur,” said Mr. Ramesh Kumar.
The exercise of drawing fire lines and taking in local support is an annual affair given Bandipur’s susceptibility to fire as the vegetation is dry-deciduous in nature. A major fire in February 2019 devasted a vast swathe of the national park, and reduced the affected portion to cinders.
As there has been no major fire since 2019, the ‘fuel build-up’ by way of vegetation growth, is also high. Besides, there is proliferation of weeds, like lantana, that are highly combustible and could add to the intensity of a fire. This, coupled with the impact of scanty rains in 2023, which resulted in vegetation drying up earlier in Bandipur, has led the authorities to prepare for a long haul in the summer of 2024.
