The fires in Uttarakhand’s Binsar forest have brought into focus the avoidable, indeed tragic, costs of a siloed governance structure. This is a structure in which government officials know what is required of them and, in the main, do their job properly. But, they have limited oversight of the interlinkages between their responsibility and those of others also involved, albeit via a different department, and therefore only a blurred line of sight to the full picture of the problem. In this structure, they have little incentive or inclination to ask the question, “Can this problem be fully addressed by crafting solutions only through a narrow departmental lens?”
Officers in such a structure may have a sense of the relatively “small cost” of failing to deliver on their responsibility, but a scant appreciation of the potentially systemic consequences of the collective of such “small” costs, if all involved also failed to deliver.
As readers of this column might know, I have a home inside the sanctuary. Last month, a massive fire engulfed the forest. It raged for days. Five firefighters lost their lives and three are in hospital. My wife and I were witness to this tragedy.
This article is not to cast blame, but to offer learnings from my experience to prevent, mitigate and manage such natural disasters in the future.
Forest fires are perennial. The forest department has reported that between January and June this year, there have been 1,309 forest fires in Uttarakhand — up from 241 over the same period last year and 733 for the entirety of 2023. Binsar has had its share of fires. But last month was unprecedented and, at one point, only a pathway separated the flames from the core of the sanctuary.
Many reasons are adduced for this surge in the frequency, ferocity and duration of these fires — nature, accident, deliberate setting of fires and/or arson.
Temperatures have soared. It crossed 30 degree Celsius for the first time in anyone’s memory. The leaves of the chir pine trees are inflammable and people are careless with their cigarette butts. On occasion, a fire has to be created to “kill” the fire and if that “deliberate” effort is mismanaged, the conflagration is compounded and then there is arson.
I am not enough of an “ insider” to confirm the veracity of this last cause. But everyone I spoke to believes it is a factor. Their argument is that the villagers are frustrated with the government. This is because ever since Binsar was declared a sanctuary, economic development has ground to a standstill. There are no decent schools, primary health care is rudimentary, public utilities (water, electricity) and infrastructure (roads) are inadequate and there are no jobs. Some admittedly misguided villagers torch the forest to draw attention to their woes.
Clearly, all of the above factors contribute to this phenomenon. A holistic and integrated action plan is, therefore, required to prevent, mitigate or manage future forest fires.
Last month’s experience brought four issues into sharp relief for me. One, the lack of coordination between different agencies of the government. Two, the inadequacy of the physical resources provided to the firefighters. Three, the economic and human costs of poor physical infrastructure and finally, the value of public-private cooperation.
Several governmental agencies were engaged in fighting the fire and providing medical assistance.
The forest department was at the forefront supported by the fire service department, the 108 emergency national ambulance services, the air force (their helicopters sprayed water), the district administration and, of course, the political leadership. Everyone did their best — there is no reason to doubt that — but in the apparent absence of an executive with authority to cut through departmental pressures, the impact of their collective effort was less than the sum of their individual labour. In consequence, at one point the core of the sanctuary was under threat. Had that caught fire, one of India’s pristine natural habitats might have been irremediably degraded.
What compounded matters was the lack of trained manpower and the inadequacy of equipment. The firefighters were mostly volunteers on a daily wage rate provided with a rake but no fire-resistant clothes, masks or oxygen. Amongst those who died were a 17-year old and a 21-year old villager. Were they adequately trained? I do not know. But what I do know is that such fires will recur and given global warming, with greater intensity. It is imperative, therefore, that the government make budgetary provisions to create a modern and well-trained firefighting capability.
A sad visual was the sight of a fire engine and ambulance parked outside the gates of the sanctuary when the fire was raging inside. This is because of the appalling condition of the one road that leads into the forest. It is so badly rutted that, I was told, these vehicles could not get to the fire. The PWD, responsible for the maintenance of this road may never have imagined that the “small” cost of their failure to deliver on their responsibility (that is, the inconvenience caused to the tourists visiting the sanctuary) could risk the lives of their public sector colleagues and threaten a national resource. Hopefully, this tragedy will galvanise them to ensure that this road (and all others within their charge) is properly maintained in the future.
Decades back, the villagers were incentivised to help the government fight a forest fire. The incentive was the privilege to cut one tree every year for personal use. This privilege was taken away when Binsar was declared a sanctuary. This may be one reason why today the villagers do not help the forest department other than when the fires threaten their habitation. This is a real pity.
For what was clear to me, as I witnessed the locals beat back the fire around the edges of my property, was the depth of their understanding of the topography. The forest department has, in such local expertise, a valuable asset. They must harness it even if to do so they have to reintroduce an incentive scheme.
The writer is chairman and distinguished fellow, CSEP
