The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is forming three special teams to handle incidents of forest fires across the country and the training of these teams will start from February 6 this year. NDRF chief Atul Karwal told the ANI on the sidelines of the force’s 18th Raising Day that three special teams have been selected from three different battalions– the 1st Battalion based in Guwahati, the 10th Battalion in Madhya Pradesh and the 15th Battalion in Uttarakhand.

The NDRF DG said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently gave the responsibility to his force to form a special team to deal with forest fire incidents, a key issue in forested regions across the country that includes states such as Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

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“For some time, the Ministry of Home Affairs was considering formation of a special force to deal with forest fire incidents in the country. And the job has been given to us (NDRF),” Karwal told ANI.

“Three teams have been approved. First Battalion, which is based in Guwahati, 10th Battalion which is in Madhya Pradesh, and 15th Battalion which is in Uttarakhand. Three teams are being formed from these three battalions.”
Karwal said that the specialised training of these three special teams will start on February 6.

The DG said equipment and other materials worth Rs 6 crore is being purchased for these three teams so that they can help as a specialised force during forest fire incidents.

“The team will go through a special training and its personnel will be carrying high-tech equipment while dealing with forest fires,” said Karwal. Noting that the NDRF will also play an active role in forest fires in the coming times, the 1988-batch Indian Police Service Gujarat cadre officer said proper training would be given to the rescuers under the plan and the force is in touch with the Ministry of Environment and Forest for the purpose.

Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change shared data during the Parliament session last year pointing to a total of 2, 23,333 forest fire reports across the country from November 2021 to June 2022.

The forest fires were detected by the Forest Survey of India using Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) – Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensors.

Forest fires occur every year during summer due to various natural and anthropogenic reasons including accumulations of inflammable materials such as dry leaves, twigs, and pine needles. Most of the fires in the country are ground fires which cause damage to vegetation.

The number of incidents of forest fires in the country varies from year to year depending on various natural and anthropogenic reasons.