Bhubaneswar, April 20: At a time when thousands of hectares of Odisha forest is being devoured almost every year by wildfire in hot summer, the Forest Survey of India(FSI) has located at least 3,992 vulnerable fire points during the last seven hotter days.
It was revealed from the observations recorded by MODIS Aqua, MODIS Terra and SNPP VIIRS sensors.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and Head of Forest Force (HoFF) Debidutta Biswal said, the fire points were detected in Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Koraput, Kalahandi, Rayagada, Balangir, Jharsuguda, Kandhamal, Sundargarh, Gajapati, Ganjam, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Nuapada, Bargarh, Angul, Boudh, Nayagarh, Khurda, Cuttack, and Puri districts.
According to sources, the Forest department of Odisha government has intensified measures to protect wildlife in the fire affected areas. It has deployed 370 fire protection squads, 330 fire fighting vehicles and 4,800 blower machines.
“Mobile numbers of about 10,000 forest field personnel have been registered with OFMS to ensure 100 per cent response rate,” PCCF and Head of Forest Force (HoFF) Debidutta Biswal said while responding to the media persons.
Ground intelligence and foot patrolling have also been increased to keep poachers away, the PCCF added.
The FSI, which generates forest fire alerts through the MODIS Aqua, MODIS Terra and SNPP VIIRS sensors, also mentioned that besides Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand reported 2,413; 2,048; and 1,333 fire alerts respectively.
