Bhubaneswar: With the national weather forecaster declaring that the maximum temperature is remaining appreciably above normal (3°C to 5°C) over Northwest, Central India and adjoining East India, including Odisha, and when below normal (or say scanty) rainfall is being predicted for the coming days in the State, the season of forest fires has begun in the State.
When forest fires in the State of Odisha have been rising at a great pace year after year, the latest data from Forest Survey of India shows a total of 10,800 forest fires are being detected in the State as on Feb 12, 2025.
The sigh of relief fact for the State is the number of large fire incidents in the State has been in single digit.
As per the FSI data, Karnataka leads the country with 19 large fire incidents and is followed by Tamil Nadu with 13, Andhra Pradesh with 9 and Odisha with 6.
The data shows forest fires, presently, gripping the south India more conspicuously as far as large fires are concerned.
LARGE FIRES
- KARNATAKA – 19
- TAMIL NADU – 13
- ANDHRA PRADESH – 9
- ODISHA – 7 (Koraput Gupteswar, Raigarh-Nabarangpur, Sinapalli-Nuapada, Sundargarh, Betnoti-Mayurbhanj, Belpahar-Jharsuguda)
- LAKSHADWEEP – 6
- MADHYA PRADESH – 5
FIRE ALERTS SENT STATE WISE
The real-time data with FSI shows that when it comes to dissemination of fire alerts, Madhya Pradesh tops the list with a massive 89,930. State wise data given below.
- Madhya Pradesh – 89,930
- Himachal Pradesh – 68,978
- Jharkhand – 32,454
- Andhra Pradesh – 21,495
- Telangana – 17,656
- Manipur – 14,643
- Uttarkhand – 13,562
- ODISHA – 10,835
The above list shows Odisha figuring among the top-10 states served with high fire alerts as on Feb 12.
Madhya Pradesh forests are seemingly burning in a big way, the data shows.
HOW GRIM FOREST FIRE IN ODISHA?
A glance at the count of fire alerts dispatched as on Feb 12 drives home the grimness staring at the State.
- In year 2021 when the State had recorded highest ever forest fires with Similpal National Park coming under its range, the total fire alerts then issued to Odisha since November to March 3 stood at 11,717.
- In 2025, the number of fire alerts issued to State since November till Feb 12, 2025, has already touched 10,835.
- The fire season starts from November and ends in June, as the Monsoon/pre-monsoon rain sets in.
- In Odisha, forest fires rapidly grow in Feb last week – March and peak in April.
Moreover, when it comes number of fire incidents in the country, Odisha has topped the chart twice.
STATES | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023 -24 |
ODISHA | 10,602 | 51,968 | 22,014 | 33,461 | 20,973 (2nd) |
MAHARASHTRA | 14,018 | 34,025 | 22,052 | 16,119 | 16,008 |
ANDHRA PRADESH | 9,996 | 19,328 | 14,138 | 19,367 | 18,174 |
CHHATTISGARH | 6,360 | 38,106 | 25,792 | 20,306 | 18,950 |
MADHYA PRADESH | 9,537 | 47,795 | 32,728 | 17,142 | 15,878 |
TELANGANA | 12,132 | 18,237 | 13,737 | 13,117 | 13,479 |
A glance at the above data shows Odisha topped the country in forest fires in year 2020-21 and 2022-23, and last year (2023-24), the State almost topped the country, as the fire incidents the State had witnessed were marginally down from Uttarakhand (21,033)
According to the State Forest department sources, the forest fires reported in the State till date are ground fires, not crown fire incidents. And the fires can easily be controlled and the situation is completely under control.
However, the fact shows the fire incidents in the last 24 hours have risen marginally in the State, which shows fire incidents are growing in Odisha.
EXPERTS SOLUTION
- Odisha has to activate its fire-fighting systems in all the forest fire points across the State.
- With drone technology sweeping vital sectors in the country, Odisha need to deploy this tech to identify and douse the fire at the earliest.
- Karnataka Forest Department has already deployed drones to evaluate and assess the vulnerable spots during forest fire season.
