Forest conservation on mind, Himachal police to hone disaster management, rescue skills of staff

Himachal Pradesh Police Training College partners with forest department and village to prevent & manage forest fires, enhancing skills and knowledge in disaster management.

Incidents of wildfires in Himachal Pradesh over the years have been destroying several hectares of forest cover across the hill State, damaging the biodiversity and forest ecosystem. To curb this menace the State Police department has taken the lead in honing the skills of disaster management among the forest staff and village folks.

Himachal Pradesh Police Training College based at Daroh in Kangra district has recently entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the State forest department’s Dharamshala forest circle and the ‘gram panchayat’ of Jamula for forest conservation. The key objective is the prevention and management of forest fires through enhancing skills and knowledge in the field of disaster management among the forest staff.

The MoU aims for the parties to commit to maintaining close collaboration, sharing relevant information, and effectively coordinating their activities to attain the conservation objectives of biodiversity and forest resources.

“We have signed the MoU with the forest department and the local Jamula ‘gram panchayat’ (village) wherein we would adopt a designated area of forest for its management. We hope this inclusive partnership will help facilitate training and skill development programs for forest staff. We would be sharing the expertise of the Police in disaster management and rescue skills to increase the efficiency of the forest staff. If we get desired results, the scope of initiative could be scaled up in the future,” Bimal Gupta, Deputy Inspector General of Police at the college told The Hindu.

Pointing out that the collaboration would help the Police training college in developing and implementing forest fire prevention strategies, Mr. Gupta said while the forest department shall provide necessary resources, equipment, and assistance for forest conservation activities, the gram panchayat’s involvement would aid in nurturing community-based forest conservation efforts and would be integral support for fire prevention activities, as well as swift emergency response measures.

The State government data shows in the current (2023-24) year 175 incidents of forest fire have been reported across the State, affecting close to 1,890 hectares of land. In 2018-19, the State witnessed as many as 2,544 forest fire incidents while in 2019-20 the figure was 1,445. In 2020-21, there were 1,045 forest fire incidents and in 2021-22 as many as 1,275 fire instances were reported. In 2022-23 there were 2,950 forest fires from the state. The geographical area of Himachal Pradesh is 55,673 square km out of which an area of 37,033 square km is classified as forest which is about 66% of the geographical area of the State.

“The partnership with the police is a good initiative. We regularly sensitise people and seek their help in forest fire control and management. Including and involving locals in forest conservation efforts has always been our priority. Around 15% of the area across the State is vulnerable to forest fires and pine forests are more prone to fire,” Anil Sharma, Chief Conservator of Forest with the State Forest department, said.