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Forest fire in Goa. by Ramesh Gause, Pajwada - Bicholim, Goa 15th March 2023 in Whatapps Save Western Ghats Group

Fire in Mhadai wild life sanctuary, so much intensive that it took nearly a week to manage. Such fire seems to be the first time in the history of goas forest. To be on the side of truth fire in MWS is not at all an accidental. It was well planned and executed , so that it reaches out , spreads faster and resultantly remains uncontrolled by fire fighting units !

Let us go to the chronology . A tiger got caught in a trap which was set to hunt wild pigs or like that. Having seen in the tiger the setter of the trap did not turn up back as a result it turned into carcases. The news spread between one or two persons was held by the department. Bones were sent to Dehradun lab, report stated that the sample was of donkey !

Then it came out as the tigers ! On existence of tigers in Goa the only minister who denied the existence was Mr Vishwajit Rane and claimed that they are migrants from Karnataka. Then he opposed eco sensitive areas for Sattari from where he comes and wins election. The 4 tigers were poisoned ! He opposed the idea of tiger reserve , sort support of his people . Then again a tiger was killed.

The fires burnt the pristine forests of the Mhadei basin of Goa

BY Rajendra P Kerkar

The neighbouring states of Karnataka and Maharashtra are trying their level best to dam and divert the Mhadei river and its tributaries, posing serious threat to life, livelihood as well as ecology, wildlife and forest of the smallest state of Goa. With the onset of the summer when Goans became one with the celebration of the Shigmo festival, on or before the state experienced repeated incidents of the forest fires, from March 4,2023, that amounted to causing irreparable losses to wildlife, forest and ecology. The Holi in Goa is celebrated as the Shigmo, by making the well decorated trunk of the felled tree with the leaves of mango to stand erect, in front of the temple of the village-deity, around it grasses are set to fire to mark the celebration. During the hoary past, the communities were living inside the forested villages. But, with the liberation of Goa, many of them began to settle in the areas that are lying in close proximity to the roads and where civic amenities are available. However, during the Holi festival, some of them continue to visit the old settlement, to install the tree trunk in front of the temple, and fire is ignited on the occasion. This year on the Holi, the fire that was ignited around the trunk of the tree that is worshipped as Holi, assumed such a huge proportion, that resulted in destruction of the large tracts of the pristine forests. For almost ten days repeated incidents of forest fires occurred inside the Mhadei Wildlife sanctuary and also in the Mahavir, Cotigao, Netravali sanctuaries and the Mollem national park.
Alongwith the Forest department, the Fire and Emergency Services, taking the help of local communities made attempts to douse the forest fires.The Indian Air Force and Navy choppers taking a lot of risk and hardwork, struggled to douse the forest fires. Presently, incidents of the forest fires are brought under control. According to the Forest Survey of India report of 2019, just 0.05 percent of Goa’s forests are classified as moderately fire prone. In 2021, the report of FSI, had mentioned that it was 100 percent less fire prone.
However, in spite of this,the forest fires destroyed valuable resources of forest, besides, depletion of carbon sinks, degradation of water catchment areas affecting resources of water. It has badly affected the natural habitat of wildlife and also resulted in changing the micro-climate of the area, making it unhealthy for living beings as well as leading to soil erosion, thereby intensifying the gravity of landslides and flooding in the region.
The Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary was notified by then governor of Goa, Retd.Lt. J.F.R Jacob, when the state was under the President rule, including only the government reserve forests that were earlier notified by the successive governments in power. However, the villagers who brought these areas under the agriculture and horticulture crops, have been mentioned in government records as the encroachers. After declaration of the areas as the sanctuary, it was the bounden duty of the state government authorities to take needful steps for settlement of the forest right claims by invoking the section 18 of Wildlife Protection Act,1972. This exercise was not carried out. The forest minister of Goa has initiated the process of the forest right claims form 2022 and the villagers who had done encroachments, after 1999 and even in 2015 or so, have been allowed to do formalities of Forest Right Claims.

These villagers who have been recorded as the encroachers, are involved in clearing of forests and bringing it under the agriculture and horticulture crops. The incidents of forest fires were taking place earlier too, but lack of the stringent action, given them free hands.The majority forest staff involved in the Mhadei Sanctuary, is from Sattari, who are patrolling the areas. Presently, watch towers that are already established and staff are deployed but they are given totally different assignments.
Poaching, trekking, hiking activities are on rise in the protected areas of Sattari. The forest minister of Goa said that “These fires are man-made”

The Forest Right Claim can be put by any member or community, who has for at least three generations (75 years) prior to the 13 th day of December,2005, primarily resided in forest land for bonafide livelihood needs. In many areas of the Mhadei Wildlife sanctuary,claims for the forest lands have been made also after 2006. Though, the claims have not been settled in some cases, the Forest Department of Goa, has allowed the claimants to venture into these areas, who are clearing forest through the fires to bring it under the agriculture and horticulture crops. Such types of violations are rampant and are continuously on the rise, since 2019.

The Forest Minister mentioned that recent forest fires are man-made, however no thorough investigation of the culprits involved have been done.That is why, destruction of forests have been going on unnoticed and unhindered. From 2009 to 2021,five tigers were killed in Sattari and no efforts sincerely have been made to exercise the rule of law and order and to repeat such crimes.Whatever, recommendations made by the National Tiger Conservation Authority,half- hearted attempts have been made to implement.

There is an urgent need of conducting a judicial probe into violations that are presently going on in Sattari, where in some areas boards are standing, mentioning, no entry for the Forest department officials.

Since 2019 incidents of forest fire have repeatedly taken place in Goa, but the forest department has not provided till this date direction for operational planning at the field level and also have not made resource allocation, training monitoring and control programs with the ultimate goal to reduce the risk and occurrences of forest fires in Goa. The anthropologic factor is by far the main culprit of the catastrophic losses, which demands various wildfire prevention strategies. High temperatures, low humidity raise the flammability of dry grass, leaves and bushes with strong wind speed. Forest department should consider current and upcoming weather conditions and their danger to the forest. When it is too hot or windy, sparkles from the working equipment or vehicle may ignite the dry grass or leaves and leap to large territories due to wind causing forest fires. Being aware of the current and upcoming forest fire hazards or detecting smoke on time is alway necessary in preventing forest fire.

A digital forest monitoring tool blending powerful remote sensing technology is needed for preventing forest fires. In Sattari horticultural land expansion by cutting forest and burning dried vegetation is going on uncontrolled. No awareness drive inside the sanctuaries and the forested areas have been taken to stop burning debris under dangerous weather conditions. 78% of North Goa rich forest was adoring Sattari but various anthropogenic activities have been responsible for destruction and degradation of the life sustaining forest. It is high time for all of us to plan a strategy for initiating joint forest management, consolidating the community conserved areas and providing various incentives to the local communities for the protection and conservation of the wildlife, ecology and forest.

BJP के 'Fake News सरगना' Amit Malviya की Supriya Shrinate ने बोलती बंद की। तालियों से गूंज उठा हॉल.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj2xkg-oD8k Mar 19, 2023
The reason why I want to talk about fake news & the weaponization of misinformation is because BJP leaders & its troll army spread fake news & misleading information. What is the desire to continuously lie & spread fake news with such urgency? at India Today conclave. https://youtu.be/hj2xkg-oD8k?t=30 where things stand on social media BJP v/s Congress 200 m followers v/s 9 m, Facebook !