New Delhi: The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has told theNational Green Tribunal that it has constituted a Central Monitoring Committee (CMC) under the chairmanship of Secretary to monitor the implementation of the National Action Plan on forest fire in hill states. The ministry told a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel that keeping in view the impact of forest fire and its management this MoEF has formulated a National Action Plan on Forest Fire which has been circulated to all the state governments for taking appropriate action.
The Union Environment Ministry told the NGT that the responsibility to prevent, control and manage forests fires lies primarily with the State Government/Union Territory (UT) Administration. The Ministry supports the efforts of State/UT in prevention and control of forest fire by providing financial assistance for various forest fire prevention and management measures under the Centrally Sponsored Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme.
State/UT prepares Annual Plan of Operation for prevention and management of forest fire under this scheme and funds are released. A sum of Rs 46.84 crore and Rs. 14.25 crore have been released to the States in the last financial year and in the current financial year respectively under this scheme, the ministry said. The submissions were made in response to a pleafiled by senior advocate Rajiv Dutta against the massive forest fires in hilly areas.
He had claimed that large area of forests, along with diverse biological species, have already become extinct as a consequence of these preventable forests. The tribunal had earlier rapped the Centre for remaining a “mute spectator” to the recurring forest fires in the hilly states, and directed the environment ministry to formulate a national policy.
The green panel had said that advanced planning and implementation of fire management and crisis management plan for forest fires could have prevented massive fires that engulfed the Himalayan states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in recent years.
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