Forests near D’sala catch fire

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, May 27

Pine forests near Dharamsala caught fire today. The Forest Department pressed its officials into service soon after the inferno brokeout on the Indrunag hills. They tried to control the fire by digging channels in the forests.

Sources said the forest officials had a toughtime controlling the flames as pine needles made it difficult for them to reach the spot.

The department has been planting pine trees in the forest area for the past few decades. Reason: Better survival rate of the trees. Such fire incidents are being attributed to the growing pine trees.

Pine forests cover 20 per cent of the total forest area (27,910 hectares of land) of Dharamsala.

The forests have created problems for farmers as well as the Forest Department. Pine trees have allelopathic impact. Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon by which pine trees produce biochemicals that do not allow any kind of vegetation growth in the surroundings. There is hardly any undergrowth of grass in the pine forests.

There is heavy deposition of dried pine needles under the trees. These needles are highly inflammable and catch fire, especially during the summer.

The farmers set fire to the pine forests with a hope that in the forthcoming monsoon season there would be growth of grass for fodder.

The only solution is — removal of dried pine needles. The needles have a high combustible value. Technology is available for converting dried pine needles into combustible bricks. In Solan district, the needles are being used in kilns in cement plants. However, the use is limited and a low percentage of bio-waste generated by the trees is being used in the state.

The sources said in case, the government made it mandatory for brick kiln owners and cement plants to use certain portion of pine needle fuel, it would increase the demand for bio-waste of pine trees.

Experts feel that the government should ban future plantation of pine trees in the Mid-Himalayan region. With this, the percentage of pine forest in the region can be reduced over a period of time.

The pine trees can hardly be used for any other purpose. They can only generate resin. It is counterproductive for wildlife also. Some experts attribute the monkey menace along roads and in urban areas to the pine forests.

The forest officials said the growth of lantana was also responsible for the fire in the area. In Dharamsala, lantana is spread over 35,000 hectares. The farmers also set dried lantana to fire for growing grass.