App developed by Uttarakhand forest department & IIRS for early detection, swift dousing of wildfires

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand forest department, in collaboration with Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), has developed an app that will send timely alerts about forest fires.

Local residents and ground workers of the forest department will keep an eye out for signs of forest fire, and once they detect any, they will upload images to alert fire crew stations.
"IIRS and Forest Survey of India (FSI) have come up with an app that will act as an automated risk advisory. It will help in early detection and dousing of fires, as well as analyzing burnt areas. A fire alert would be sent out to the forest officials, van panchayat heads and their teams as soon as fire is detected," said Nishant Verma, chief conservator of forests (forest fire & disaster management).
Apart from its own officials, the forest department is extending the technology to several other stakeholders. "We have at least 5,000 members subscribed to this facility in Uttarakhand, but now we will extend it to at least 10,000 more people. They will also receive the alerts. Together and aggressively, we can douse the fires," Verma said.
Winter forest fires (which occur from October to mid-February), a phenomenon which ravaged Uttarakhand for the first time last year, didn't occur this year, giving officials a window to prepare for the forest fire season, which lasts from mid-February to mid-June in Uttarakhand. From October 2020 to June 2021, 3,803 hectares of forest area was gutted. "Fortunately, there were no winter wildfires this year, thanks to winter rains and intermittent snowfall," Verma said.
Since mid-December last year, 1,317 fire crew stations have been established by the forest department and 40 model crew stations are under construction, as per forest authorities. These are temporary control rooms having fire-control equipment, designed to operate for three to four months.
Also, most of the fire lines in Terai and Bhabar regions have been cleared. The fire lines in the higher reaches are still being cleared. Fire lines are pre-marked rows of trees that are gutted by the forest department well ahead of the forest fire season so that if a blaze breaks out, it doesn't make it past these "lines".