House Panel Calls For New Satellite To Monitor Forest Fires In Himalayan Region, Pg6

Key Highlights:

• A parliamentary standing committee recommended prioritizing the launch of a dedicated geostationary satellite for round-the-clock monitoring of forest fires in the Himalayan region.
• The committee called for a National pine-needle utilisation policy and the establishment of at least two regional National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) centers for the Himalayan region.
• The Himalayan region, comprising 17% of India’s landmass, accounts for 57% of the country's forest fire incidents.
• India currently relies on foreign polar-orbiting satellites like AQUA and Suomi-NPP for forest fire alerts, which provide limited observational data.
• Uttarakhand recorded the highest number of forest fire incidents in the Himalayan region between 2019-20 and 2023-24.

Detailed Insights:

• The recommendations were part of the report titled ‘Forest fires in the Himalayan Region, its adverse effects and mitigation measures’, tabled in Parliament.
• The House panel on Science and Technology, Environment, Forest and Climate Change is headed by BJP MP Medha Kulkarni.
• The current reliance on foreign satellites results in a "critical observational gap in the diurnal fire monitoring cycle" as data is available only eight times a day.
• The panel noted that a high proportion of false positives in alerts, as seen in Uttarakhand, can lead to alert fatigue among staff.
• The committee questioned the need for a new central law, such as a National Forest Fire Management Act, to create a legal framework for fire management.
• The Environment Ministry stated that the existing National Action Plan for Forest Fires, working plans, and disaster management frameworks address the issue.
• The committee urged a careful review of existing forest laws to safeguard forest communities and ecosystems.
• Forest fires in the Western Himalayas are primarily driven by extreme pre-monsoon heat and pine-needle fuel, while Eastern Himalayan fires involve atmospheric dryness and cultivation-linked burning practices.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Geostationary satellite: A satellite that orbits Earth at the same rate as Earth's rotation, appearing stationary from the ground, enabling continuous observation of a specific area.
• Polar-orbiting satellite: A satellite that passes over the Earth's poles on each revolution, covering the entire surface over time, but providing intermittent data for any single location.
• National Disaster Response Force (NDRF): A specialized force in India for disaster response, relief, and rescue operations.
• Forest Survey of India (FSI): An organization under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change responsible for forest resource assessment and monitoring.