Sariska Tiger Reserve is Burning For 2 Weeks – All About Fire in The Wildlife Sanctuary And Its Cause

A WWF International report from 2020 estimated that humans are responsible for around 75 per cent of all wildfires and much of the increase in fire incidents during 2020 can be directly linked to human actions.

Record-breaking fires are ripping through the Sariska Tiger Reserve- a wildlife sanctuary that was declared a national park in 1982. An unprecedented number of fires raged for 2 weeks. The southern region of the wildlife sanctuary was on fire again in an already scorched region due to strong winds which fanned the flames.

Now as per news agency IANS, a major fire at the Sariska Tiger Reserve continued to rage on Monday, prompting the SDRF to send more teams to help douse the fire, officials informed.

The SDRF is sending one company from Ajmer and one from Jaipur as it has limited resources, while two companies were already sent on Sunday night, the officials said. “This time we are sending additional water tankers which were limited to one the last time when the fire erupted,” they added.

The blaze which erupted on Sunday evening has spread to 5-6 km of the forest’s area. Another fire that erupted on Friday was contained the same day.

Sources have said that forest officials were not taking the fire seriously as it is yet to be completely doused.

Earlier, forest officials were busy attending to Anjali Tendulkar, wife of cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, despite the fact that the fire had erupted at the reserve which is home to many tigers in the desert state.

Forests fire erupt basically for three reasons — natural causes; throwing of a lit cigarette carelessly in the forest; and smugglers igniting a fire to pave their way into jungles.

The officials told IANS that forest authorities need to probe all these angles thoroughly.

The new blaze barely a week after another area of the Sariska Reserve came under the grip of severe wildfire which was contained with the help of Indian Air Force helicopters.

Why is Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary burning?

According to a report in Indian Express, Sariska is not prone to forest fires. The report says that in the last five years, Sariska received only three — one in 2018 and two in 2019 — satellite fire alerts.

As the visuals of IAF choppers carrying large buckets of water to douse the forest fire in Sariska Tiger Reserve went viral on social media on Tuesday, several people linked it with the prevailing heatwave conditions in northwest India, including large parts of Rajasthan.

Still, many others said that the changing climatic conditions are bound to increase such forest fires in India. But is it the case?

Since mid-March, large parts of Rajasthan, including Alwar district – home to Sariska Tiger Reserve – have been witnessing heatwave conditions.

Aarti Khosla, Director, Climate Trends, an advocacy non-profit told IANS, “The forest fires in the Sariska Tiger Reserve look like a case of extreme heat exacerbating the fire. The intensity and increasing frequency of forest fire also point to the dangers this poses for biodiversity and the decades of efforts that have gone into wildlife conservation. These temperatures are much ahead of any predicted seasonal heatwaves and speak to non-linear impacts of climate change in some ways.”

This was echoed by Ravi Chellam, a member of Biodiversity Collaborative, a network of institutions and individuals promoting biodiversity research and conservation.

“Forest fires are part of the natural ecology of many ecosystems across the world. In fact, there are many habitats and species which are fire-dependent. (But) It is the increasing frequency, intensity and scale of these fires which is aided and exacerbated by climate change and that too in the context of accelerating loss, fragmentation and degradation of habitats which is the problem.”

Former Member Secretary, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Rajesh Gopal, however, differed.

“India does not have forest fires due to increased natural heatwave conditions unlike the bush fires in other countries. We mostly have man-made fires. The only thing is, heatwaves mean biomass is dry and that helps spread the fire faster,” Gopal said.

Forest fire is not a new thing either for Sariska or Rajasthan but the extent to which fire spread this time is larger, he said, adding, the bigger animals are hardly affected but damages ground nesting and smaller animals. “If there are shortfalls in prevention measures, the fire can turn into crown fire, in which case, a large number of trees are lost,” he said.

A WWF International report from 2020 estimated that humans are responsible for around 75 per cent of all wildfires and much of the increase in fire incidents during 2020 can be directly linked to human actions.

Why is Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary Famous?

Located in Aravali hills, the wildlife sanctuary is famous for its wide variety of flora and fauna. It is known for the presence and conservation of the Tiger species.  It is located approximately 100 km away from the Pink city of India Jaipur.