533 Forest Fires in a Week; Odisha Jungles in Danger before Onset of Summer

Bhubaneswar: Although it is spring season and summer is some months away, incidents of forest fire are being reported in large numbers in Odisha. During the past one week, forest fires occurred in 533 different areas of Odisha. Around 23 of them were major wildfires in Odisha jungles.

As per the data released by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) issued on Tuesday, the highest number of forest fires occurred in Odisha during the past seven days.

Odisha has remained at the top of the list of incidents of forest fires in the country. As per the number of forest fires from November 2022 till February 2023, Karnataka topped the list, while the number of forest fires detected in Odisha put the state in second position.

Briefing media persons, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) of Odisha, Debidutta Biswal expressed concern over rising incidents of forest fire in the state. According to him new forest fire incidents are being reported every day in the State.

On Tuesday, forest fires were detected in about 95 places in Odisha. These forest fires occurred in Similipal, Baliguda jungles in Kandhamal, and Sundargarh.

As of January 24, as many as 695 forest fire incidents were detected in Odisha and it reached 1,695 on Tuesday. The maximum number of forest fires occurred in the Koraput forest circle of Odisha this year, the FSI report mentioned.

The highest number of forest fires in a single day occurred in the country on January 24, 2023.