PANAJI
The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has observed that cashew plantation owners practice ‘slash and burn techniques’ to suppress the growth underneath the cashew trees. The same practice is followed by the local population living within the forest areas.
The ministry’s revelation comes at a time when the State government has suspected foul play in the widespread wildfires and commissioned a high-level inquiry to zero in on the exact cause. A police complaint is simultaneously registered with the Valpoi police.
“The local populace, depending on herding of cattle, are known to practice slash and burn technique in grazing lands and grasslands that are accessed by them for their cattle herds. Large swathes of grassy plateaus are observed to have been burned, maybe primarily for promoting new grasses,” the MoEF said in a press statement on Saturday.
The ministry further stated that it appears fires are mostly man-made in nature, cause of which may be inadvertent or otherwise and an inquiry has been initiated. All the concerned Deputy Conservators of Forests have been directed to conduct a detailed inquiry into each of the fire incidences which have occurred since March 5.
The spread of fires has been aided due to unprecedented high temperatures and winds. “As a cost-cutting measure in cultural and tending activities of the cashew plantation, slash and burn technique is observed to be followed by the plantation owners and workers, mostly to reduce debris and suppress the growth underneath the cashew trees,” it added.
The fires are mostly reported from the deciduous patches across the State. The nature of fire observed is the surface fire which burns loose and dried leaf litter, dried herbaceous vegetation, shrubs, small trees, and saplings that are at or near the surface of the ground, mostly by flaming combustion.
The State has further set up a 24x7 Control Room for real-time monitoring of the alerts whereas exact geo-coordinates and maps of fire locations are shared with the field functionaries on a real-time basis to immediately attend to the fires.
