News
Adding fuel to fire: Forest fires hard on the heels of COVID-19
There is a surge in forest fires with environmentalists counting eight during the ongoing curfew with the Alagalla, Hantana and Sooriyakanda ranges badly affected.
The total number of forest fires this month alone is 86, said Janaka Handunpathiraja, Assistant Director of Media of the Disaster Management Centre.
“At a time when the whole country is on a collective mission to avert a crisis, some people are engaging in this Neanderthal activity, causing costs to the Government that they shouldn’t be having to face right now,” he said.
Five fires were reported from the Kandy district just on Tuesday. “The coronavirus has given the world a chance to heal its environment,” said Jayantha Wijesinghe, Convener of the Rainforest Protectors of Sri Lanka. “Kandy is the city with the highest air pollution in the country, the highest rates of asthma and other respiratory illnesses. The city’s air was clearing up. With these fires, however, these places won’t recover.”
In Deniyaya, a forest patch had even been set alight for the purpose of treasure hunting, Mr Wijesinghe said. But hunting and amusement—people think it’s “fun” to start a fire—are some of the most common reasons for these incidents. People also do it to harvest bees’ honey, ‘nelli’ and ‘kahata gedi’ from the forest. The fires are always man-made.
It was flagged at a meeting between District Secretariats, the Forest Department and DMC that some people enjoyed the spectacle of fire brigades and helicopters rushing onto the scene of the fires.
Areas in which fires have broken out are catchment areas. With droughts and forest fires, the country’s precious water resources are depleting. When water security is threatened, it directly affects electricity generation, too.
It was vital now to arrest those engaged in this destructive practice. But it is a significant challenge. Collection of information is a vital part of the battle, Mr Wijesinghe said. Overcoming bureaucracy was also important.
Several recommendations were made to the DMC. One is to educate people on the consequences of fires and the severity of available punishments for the setting forests ablaze. Second is to publish a mobile number hotline so people can report fires and get faster response. Third is to provide people with financial incentives to report culprits. Half the fires can be avoided if culprits are dealt with, Mr Wijesinghe felt.
“This is where private entities like ourselves can be helpful in applying the right pressure,” he said.
Some of the recommendations are already in effect, said Mr. Handunpathiraja. Nishantha Edirisinghe, a Forest Department official, also previously told the Sunday Times that the authorities were running wide awareness campaigns to curb the rise in forest fires.
“We will be considering all the recommendations in depth but financially incentivising those who report the culprits might prove more logistically complicated since funds come through Central Government,” Mr. Handunpathiraja said.
He also said the relevant authorities were not prevented from acting quickly on these fires owing to the coronavirus lockdown. The army responded within 30 minutes of the most recent fire in Hantana (on Friday) being reported.