The Forest Protection Division of this Ministry has formulated National Action Plan on Forest Fire and circulated it to all State/UT Governments on 23.04.2018 for taking appropriate action for effective prevention and management of forest fire.
The Ministry conducted a study on Situation Analysis of Forest Fire in collaboration with the World Bank in 2017-18. A report titled Strengthening Forest Fire Management in India was published based on the findings of the study.
New technologies like GPS, GIS and remote sensing are being used for prevention and control of forest fires.
A faster, quicker and more robust version of Fire Alert System viz. FAST Ver. 3.0 was launched on 16-17 January, 2019 by FSI, Dehradun.
The Ministry supports the efforts of State/Union Territory Governments for prevention and control of forest fire by providing financial assistance for forest fire prevention and management measures such as creation and maintenance of fire lines, engagement of fire watchers, creation of water storage structures, strengthening of forest infrastructure, procurement of firefighting equipment, Soil and Moisture Conservation (SMC) works, awareness creation, and incentivizing villages / communities for protection against forest fire under the Centrally Sponsored Forest Fire Prevention and Management (FPM) Scheme.
The Ministry has constituted a Crisis Management Group under the chairmanship of Secretary (EF&CC) to deal with crises arising as a result of forest fires.
There is a system of forest fire detection in the country implemented by Forest Survey of India, Dehradun based on remote sensing technology which can detect and disseminate information about forest fires in near real time. This system is extremely helpful in early detection and management of forest fires in the country.
As per the directions of the Hon’ble National Green Tribunal (NGT), New Delhi in the Original Application No. 489 of 2014 in the matter of Indian Institute of Sustainable Development v/s Union of India and others, this Ministry has amended the Wood Based Industries (Establishment and Regulation) Guidelines, 2016. The approved Wood Based Industries (Establishment and Regulation) Guidelines, 2016 has been forwarded to all State/UTs on 28.02.2019 for your information and necessary action.
