Uttarakhand reported the highest number of forest fires this season, with incidents rising fourfold, according to government data.
Himachal Pradesh witnessed a 14-fold increase in forest fires compared to the previous season.
The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) – 2023, released on Saturday, showed that Uttarakhand recorded 5,351 forest fires in the last season (November 2022 to June 2023), ranking 13th among all states.
This season, the number surged to 21,033, making it the state with the most forest fires.
Himachal Pradesh, which recorded only 704 forest fires last season, saw the number rise sharply to 10,136 this season.
Odisha, which recorded 20,973 incidents this season against 33,461 last season, ranked second, followed by Chhattisgarh (18,950), Andhra Pradesh (18,174), Maharashtra (16,008), Madhya Pradesh (15,878) and Telangana (13,479).
Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, who released the report, said forest fires were the biggest problem confronting his ministry.
Persistent hotter and drier weather due to climate change, along with human factors such as land conversion for agriculture, are the main drivers behind the increase in forest fires.
Forest fires release greenhouse gases and the carbon stored in trees, contributing to global warming and environmental degradation.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, forest fires emit between 2.5 billion and 4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
In India, the National Disaster Management Authority recognised forest fires as a national disaster in 2019.
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