Uttarakhand Forest Department Develops App For Quick Response To Forest Fires

The application uses a colour-based indication system making it easy for the users to understand the exact status of the fire. It has also been linked to fire vehicles.

An NDRF personnel tries to control a fire that broke out in the forest of Pauri Garhwal district, Uttarakhand on May 14, 2024.

Source : PTI

Uttarakhand witnesses massive forest fires every year, causing widespread destruction of thousands of hectares of land and posing serious threat to wildlife as well as the local communities. In order to tackle this problem, the Uttarakhand Fire Department has developed a forest fire application to ensure rapid response by immediately detecting incidents of forest fire.

The Forest department has used cutting-edge technologies like real-time monitoring and quick alert system in the application's development. The app will enable the Forest department teams to receive immediate information about any fire, enabling them to reach at the spot on time to douse the flames.

The application has a special alert system which sends information to the forest workers as soon as a forest fire breaks out. The information is sent to forest department officials and field teams based on the intensity and location of the fire to ensure immediate response.

The application uses a colour-based indication system making it easy for the users to understand the exact status of the fire. 

'Red' colour indicates that the fire has started and is spreading, 'Yellow' shows forest workers have reached the site of fire, and 'Green' denotes that the fire has been successfully extinguished.

The application has also been linked to fire vehicles. The forest department has linked this application to more than 7,000 forest staff and over 40 fire vehicles across the state. This will allow the forest department teams to reach the fire-affected areas in time and initiate immediate action to minimise the damage. A common man can also geo-tag the location in the app the location of the forest fire.

Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Vaibhav Singh played a critical role in developing the application as he studied this problem for several years. He also conducted several experimental tests in Rudraprayag district between 2020 and 2022. 

Additional Chief Forest Conservator Nishant Verma of Uttarakhand Forest Department said that the application has been linked to the Integrated Command Center, which will help in monitoring the forest areas of the entire state. "The status of the forest area including the posts and surveillance towers of the department has also been added to the application. This will provide a lot of convenience to the department," Verma said.

Locals living in villages in the adjoining forests of Uttarakhand will also benefit from this application. 

The application will also be linked to drone technology and Artificial Intelligence in future so that incidents of forest fire can be analysed in a more accurate manner and potential dangers can be predicted before the fire breaks out.