Butterfly effect of the forest fires

The recent forest fires in Uttarakhand torched over 2,000 hectares. In the second of a three-part series, Business Standard looks at the immediate and long-term impact of the fires on Uttarakhand

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Ten years ago, when Peter Smetacek walked in the forests surrounding Sattal, there were areas so thick with butterflies that they fanned his face. "Repeated fires in this area have wreaked havoc on its ecology," he says, gazing ruefully at the acres of charred forest around him. "From 240, the number of butterfly species here has dropped to 70."

Forest fires have become almost the norm in the hills every summer, even though they serve little or no ecological purpose. Instead, Smetacek says that they have reduced the ground vegetation and the broadleaf forest cover in Uttarakhand - initiating a butterfly effect that is manifesting in almost every aspect of mountain life.

CAUSE & EFFECT

• A significant impact of forest fires that few are talking about is on the health of the women of the state
• According to the 2016 National Family Health Survey (NFHS), only 31 per cent of all rural households in the state use clean fuel for cooking; rest depend on firewood and cow dung cakes
• The NFHS report says that around 45 per cent of women in the state between the ages of 15 and 49 are anaemic

The most worrying fallout of Uttarakhand's forest fires is, of course, on the environment. Forestry experts have long observed that forest fires are wiping out the region's endemic broadleaf trees such as oak, leaving only the hardy chir pines standing.

"They are like toothpicks stuck on the forest floor," says Ajay Rawat, a Nainital-based environmental activist, for chir pines provide neither shade nor ground cover. The increased dryness of the soil causes stones to loosen, leading to more landslides. Indeed, locals report that in the past few years, there have been more instances of landslides and rock falls than ever before.

While the immediate impact of forest fires on the environment - air pollution, nutrient depletion from soil, drying up of springs and more - is easily discernible, it is the hidden fallout of this disaster that is likely to leave a long-term impact on the state. "The central Himalayas are the catchment area for the Indo-Gangetic plain," says Rawat.

Every time there are widespread fires here, forests become bare allowing rainwater to run off instead of recharge ground water. This is why springs downhill are running dry.

"We have never seen the water levels in Naini Lake this low," says Nainital-based filmmaker Rudy Singh. "Repeated forest fires and deforestation higher up in the hills have reduced the supply of water to the lake."

The effects of decreasing ground water recharge, according to Rawat, will be felt all the way from Uttarakhand to the Gangetic delta in Bangladesh. The decimation of insect life in Uttarakhand, too, has consequences for the plains. "These insects, especially bees and butterflies, are important agents of pollination. Without them, even the farmlands in the plains will soon see reduced productivity," says Rawat.

However, the most significant impact of forest fires that a few are talking about is on the health of the women of the state. All over the hills of Uttarakhand, one can see women working hard at home and in their fields, and still finding time to fetch firewood and fuel from the forest. According to the 2016 National Family Health Survey (NFHS), only 31 per cent of all rural households in the state use clean fuel for cooking - the rest depend on firewood and cow dung cakes. Rawat has observed that over the years, the distance women have to walk to fetch these necessities has increased, as repeated fires have caused the forests to shrink and recede.

"Consequently, I've met women who now have to walk as much as 16 km on steep terrain in search of firewood, fodder and water," says Rawat. The impact of this added physical burden on their health is immense. The same NFHS reports that around 45 per cent of women in the state between the age of 15 and 49 are anaemic. The world over, it has been noted that the sort of environmental degradation that Uttarakhand's fires have caused entangles women in a vicious spiral of poverty, high fertility, poor health and limited opportunities.

For the time being, a week-long spell of wet weather has finally doused Uttarakhand's forest fires. But, the damage done so far will take years to repair. And, with a month of summer still looming on the horizon, the crisis in the state is far from over.