Fire on the mountain, run, run, run!

Forest fires. I’ve been worried about them since I was a kid. I vividly remember driving through Bandipur once, with both sides of the road blazing. It was frightening enough in the jeep, and then we saw a cheetal running through it all. It left a permanent impression on me—they were a terrible thing that killed off a host of species. I also was under the impression they were predominantly man-made. Theoretically bamboos could rub against each other and create a lot of heat, and a drop of water somewhere could act like a lens, but it seemed a little far-fetched to me.

And I was also proud of our Tamil Nadu Forest Department on this one issue. They were extremely effective at putting fires out. Come summer, and they hire a host of ‘firefighters’ to be ready and waiting. At the hint of a fire anywhere, the battalion was sent out. They cut green branches to beat out the fires, and it was often a real battle, but very rarely in recent years have they let fires spread. They also burn fire lines on either side of the road to prevent tourists from starting fires from cigarette butts and picnics. The department also accused the tribals and villagers of burning the forest so that there was more grass available for their cattle. I held a grudge against the Masinagudi lot for a long time on account of this.

Sometime ago, however, this fundamental belief of mine was questioned. I was having a chat with Arumugam (IISc, CES) about this during one of the census operations. He insisted periodic fires were a good thing! And the good department’s efforts were really damaging the area.

The main issue was that the lack of fires at all made the undergrowth extremely dense. This limited the animal’s movement. Further, if a fire broke out after about 7-10 years without fires, then there was so much dry undergrowth to burn that the fires were huge, and even the mighty firefighters were no match. These megafires then destroyed almost everything except the very old trees. He even pointed out that Mudumalai had very imbalanced vegetation – only old trees and shrubs. It all seemed very logical then, and I wondered how come I had never noticed it.

 I once had a very interesting chat with Babu in Chembakolli. We were discussing the buffer zone and how the forest department are very haphazard in their efforts. In the middle of this, he brought up the fire issue and the department’s foolishness. The forest is much more dense now than it ever was, primarily filled with lantana. According to him, “A fire should burn at least once every three years. Animals are not like humans. Deer can go a month with little or no food and still survive. Some of the weak ones will die, but then how else will the other meat-eating animals live? And wild grass and plants are not like the ones we all plant nowadays. After a fire, within 24 hours you will see tiny small shoots appearing if there is a little rain.

In the old days each hill had one Karnavar (traditional elder). If there was no fire for 4 or 5 years, then, just before the monsoon, the Karnavar would gather all the old people and call the spirits. They would ask them what to do since all the animals were leaving the hill for better forests. Sometimes the spirits would say to wait, but sometimes they would say to start a fire. They would often even tell our people where to start the fire. The Karnavars then had to go all around the hill with their drums, announcing to all the animals where and when they were going to start a fire. The belief was that the animals would all take the advice and move away from that hill. Nowadays, of course, we don’t believe that animals can understand anything. But anyway, drumming through the forest for a week will scare them all away. After that they would start a fire to open up the forest. Within a week or so it would definitely rain, and then the forests would be healthy again. The department fellows are being really stupid putting out every small fire. In the same breath they complain that lantana is taking over everything. Don’t they realise that it should burn every now and then? Only bison, and to some extent sambar deer, can eat lantana, and that too only the very tender shoots. Unless it burns every few years, obviously it will take over the forests. When will these people learn?” When will they ever learn?

-Tarsh Thekaekara