Forest Dept challenges fire data of FSI, terms it inaccurate
By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 2 Jan: Uttarakhand has been often in line of fire, attracting national attention over incidents of forest fires and the state forest department has also faced regular criticism over the state’s preparedness and response to fire incidents and alerts. However, this time, ahead of the forthcoming fire season, the state forest department has formally challenged the accuracy and interpretation of forest fire data issued by the Forest Survey of India. The state forest department has asserted that a majority of alerts attributed to Uttarakhand do not represent actual forest fires. The contention has been conveyed to the Forest Survey of India (FSI) through an official communication, placing the methodology and presentation of fire-related data under scrutiny. In this regard, Forest Minister Subodh Uniyal has also supported the view of the state forest department and has flagged majority of FSI alerts as heat alerts not forest fire alarms.
Every year, with the onset of the forest fire season, reports of large-scale forest fires in Uttarakhand are highlighted at the national level. The state Forest Department has now claimed that a substantial proportion of these reported incidents are either false or they pertain to non-forest areas and therefore should not be classified as forest fires. In this regard, PCCF and Head of Forest Staff (HoFF) has written a formal letter to the Forest Survey of India (FSI) which is under the Union Government.
It may be reminded here that the Forest Survey of India is the national agency responsible for compiling and disseminating forest fire data and issuing fire alerts to states, which are then used by forest departments to initiate preventive and control measures on the ground. The claims made by the Uttarakhand Forest Department have raised questions over the credibility of these alerts, particularly with regard to their classification as actual forest fire incidents.
In a detailed letter dated 31 December 2025, sent by the office of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force to the Director General of the Forest Survey of India, the department has highlighted significant discrepancies in winter-season fire data. The letter states that nearly 1,900 incidents reported as forest fires during the winter period were, in fact, satellite-based heat or fire alerts, a large number of which were either false or related to activities outside forest areas.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force Ranjan Kumar Mishra said the Forest Department continues to make sustained efforts to prevent and control forest fires and is once again focusing on public participation ahead of the fire season. He underlined that fire prevention remains a priority area for the department, particularly in view of Uttarakhand’s fragile forest ecosystem.
According to the department, alerts issued by the Forest Survey of India serve only as preliminary indicators. These alerts are generated not only by actual forest fires but also by heat signatures arising from agricultural residue burning, fires at garbage dumping sites, controlled fires, fire drills and other non-forest activities. The department has claimed that such alerts cannot be treated as confirmed forest fire incidents unless they are verified through field-level inspection.
The letter includes a detailed analysis of alerts received between 1 November 2025 and 28 December 2025. During this period, a total of 1,050 alerts were received and subsequently verified by field staff through ground truthing. The verification exercise revealed that 377 alerts were entirely false, 130 were linked to controlled fires or fire drills, and 479 were associated with agricultural residue burning or fires in non-forest areas. Only 64 alerts were found to be related to actual forest fires, amounting to approximately six per cent of the total alerts received.
Regional analysis further highlights the department’s concerns. In the Garhwal division, only 55 out of 721 alerts were verified as genuine forest fire incidents by the state forest department. In the Kumaon division, just two out of 230 alerts were confirmed as actual forest fires by the state forest department, while in wildlife areas, only seven out of 99 alerts were found to be genuine. The department also pointed out that multiple alerts are often generated for a single incident, leading to an inflated perception of forest fire frequency.
The Forest Department has also drawn attention of the FSI to similar discrepancies in 2024. Data from the previous year indicated that only nine per cent of reported incidents were found to be correct, while 52 per cent of alerts were false. Around five per cent of the alerts were related to fire drills and four per cent were associated with controlled fires deliberately carried out by the Forest Department itself as a preventive measure, yet these too were counted in the overall fire incident figures.
Commenting on this, Forest Minister Subodh Uniyal said the state forest department has urged the Forest Survey of India to replace the term “Forest Fire Alerts” with “Heat Alerts” on its website to prevent misinterpretation of data and avoid unnecessary public confusion. He also recommended that data verified through ground-level inspection should be made public on a monthly basis to ensure greater transparency in official communication and public information.
