Nagaland selected for forest fire mitigation scheme
Published on Jan 30, 2025
By Reyivolü Rhakho
- KOHIMA — A High-Level Committee
(HLC), under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, has approved
the Mitigation Scheme for Forest Fire Risk Management—to be implemented across
144 high-priority districts in 19 states, including Nagaland—at a total outlay
of INR 818.92 crore, out of which central
share from NDMF & NDRF will be INR 690.63 crore.
- The primary objective
of the scheme will be to implement a mitigation project for transforming the
forest fire management approach in the country so as to strengthen and support
vital forest fire prevention and mitigation activities.
- The 19 selected states
are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal
Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Madhya
Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttarakhand.
- They will submit their
respective proposals undertaking necessary activities for mitigation of forest
fires, preparedness for forest fire response as well as for post-fire
assessment and recovery.
- In Nagaland, the number
of forest fires detected by Forest Survey of India using MODIS from November
2023 to June 2024 was 761.
- The number of forest
fires detected by FSI using SNPP-VIIRS sensors from November 2023 to June 2024
was 2,609. This includes large, continuous and repeated forest fires.
- About 3 % of Nagaland’s
total forest cover and scrub or 385.65 kilometres is “very highly fire prone”
while 22.80% of the total forest cover and scrub or 2,938 km is “highly fire
prone”.