In a first, Uttarakhand deploys drones to monitor forest fires

In a first, the Uttarakhand Forest Department has deployed three drones for real-time monitoring belonging to the forest fires. This really once that drones widely-used to monitor forest fires in India.�Besides monitoring of forest fire, drones are generally in use for wildlife conservation for nest status, aviation ethology, crocodile and water birds counting and monitoring.

Need

In India, Uttarakhand faces maximum incidents of forest fires. In 2016, about 2,000 incidents of forest fires destroyed 4,500 hectares of forest land in Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand has about 71% belonging to the total geographic area under forest cover. Thus, real-time monitoring of forest fires will help in preventing the spread of forest fire. Though, the Forest Department employs both traditional method and modern methods by making use of satellite images, it is sometimes complicated to know about the forest fire inside the Terai and Bhabar regions.�The Terai region comprises fertile lowlands belonging to the southern Himalayan, Shivalik foothills and north of Indo-Gangetic plains and then the Bhabar region runs parallel to your north side of Terai.

Forest fires in Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand is renowned for human-induced forest fires since a tough time. In 2016,�the pine forests of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh caught fire. Many of the fires in Uttarakhand happen inside the Chir pine (Pinus�Rroxburghii) forests because leaves on this conifer tree catch fire easily. The forest fires in Uttarakhand happen to have been predominantly intentional with regards to collecting forest resources that include resin, sal seeds, honey, timber etc. To accumulate resin easily, the finish fires are lit to ensure pine needles are generally removed.

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