64 per cent of forest area is fire prone: Govt

Over 64 per cent of the Recorded Forest Area (RFA) in the country is fire prone, the Lok Sabha was today informed.
Minister of State for Environment Mahesh Sharma in a written reply said that the number of forest fire alerts reported by Forest Survey of India, Dehradun this year across the country stood at 35,888.
"According to the India State of Forest Report 2015, published by FSI, the estimated fire prone area under heavy, moderate and mild fire are 2.40 per cent, 7.49 per cent and 54.40 per cent respectively, making the total forest fire prone area as 64.29 per cent of RFA," he said.

In the report, it is stated that tropical thorn forests, tropical dry deciduous forests and sub tropical broadleaved hill forests are more prone to forest fires, he said.
He said the ministry issues advisories to states and UTs for taking effective steps for prevention and management of forest fires.
"The ministry has prepared Crisis Management Plan (CMP) to deal with forest fire effectively with less response time in coordination with stakeholders," he added.