It is like a national duty. We have to douse the fires and save our forests. We are the same as the army men deployed on the international border to save the country, with the difference being they have guns to protect the border, and we have a tree branch to beat out the flame,” says Shiv Rawat, a young forest ranger in Uttarakhand.
Rawat, in his early thirties, is one of hundreds of forest department workers deployed to douse forest fires when they are reported in Uttarakhand. The summer of 2024 in particular has been taxing, with panic calls about forest fires almost every day. Rawat says that the forest fire season starts in the month of November, but this year incidences have increased since February. “It is my sixth year of service, and I have never seen such a large number of forest fire complaints,” he says.
Forest fires in Uttarakhand have now engulfed an area of 1438 hectares, with 1065 incidents between November 1 last year and May 13, 2024. Five people have died. However, State wildlife department officials have claimed the situation is under control. That said, unlike forest firefighters in states like Kerala who are armed with fire beaters and blowers to clear dry leaves and other fuel load, Rawat says here an iron rake is used to create fire lines. Both the firefighters and villagers depend on green, sap-filled branches to douse the fire. In addition to the difficult terrain, they don’t have sufficient water either, for other forms of relief. “We are at god’s mercy and wait for fresh rains that continue for at least three to four days,” he says.
