J&K saw over 1,200 forest fires in 2024-25, says minister Rana

Jammu and Kashmir reported 1,243 forest fires in the 2024-25 financial year, more than double the number from the previous fiscal year, according to Forest Minister Javed Ahmad Rana.

However, the Foresr minister clarified that most of these fires were ground fires, affecting only grass and bushes, with tall trees largely remaining unaffected.

In a written response to an unstarred question by BJP’s Balwant Singh Mankotia in the Legislative Assembly on Saturday, Rana provided detailed figures for recent forest fires. He noted that in the 2022-23 financial year, 1,553 forest fire incidents were reported, covering an area of 2,774.213 hectares. In contrast, 2023-24 saw a significant drop to 607 incidents, covering just 987.24 hectares. For the current financial year, as of March 19, the number of forest fires had risen to 1,243, with an area of 3,503.70 hectares affected.

Rana emphasised that forest fire prevention and mitigation are top priorities for the Jammu and Kashmir Forest Department. He pointed out that several measures have been taken to address this issue, including the formation of a state-level monitoring committee to review progress on forest fire management. The state’s Forest Policy of 2011 focuses on the ecological restoration of forests, aiming to mitigate climate change effects. Additionally, the department has developed a 20-year State Action Plan on Forest Fire (SAPFF) to combat the growing issue.

The minister also highlighted that funding for forest fire prevention and management is provided through the centrally sponsored CAMPA scheme and Union Territory resources.

Regarding forest clearances for developmental projects, Rana mentioned that before the introduction of the PARIVESH Portal, a total of 1,690 forest clearance cases were sanctioned under the Jammu and Kashmir Forest (Conservation) Act, 1997. Since the portal’s implementation by the Union government in August 2019, 2,743 proposals have been uploaded for forest clearance under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980.

Minister Javed Rana further stated that Stage-II approval was granted for 522 cases, involving a total of 636.337 hectares of forest land, while Stage-I approval was given for 1,151 cases, covering 1,453.118 hectares. Currently, 1,070 cases are still under processing.

In efforts to curb deforestation, the government has planted 1.17 crore saplings in the current financial year.