Forest fires are on the rampage across the globe. In South Korea, massive wildfires erupted in different locations in March, last month. They have destroyed ancient temples and thousands of people had to be evacuated.
Japan reported the ‘worst wildfire in 50 years’, while our neighbouring country, Nepal, is fighting fires that have destroyed hundreds of acres of forests at multiple locations, and covered its capital Kathmandu in acrid smog.
Argentina in South America and Los Angeles in the USA have had wildfire incidents earlier this year.
Closer home, several states in the Indian Himalayan region and Central India have forest fires. State governments have issued directions to contain their spread. The Southwest monsoon, which could have helped put out the fires, is still two months away.
There is a heatwave alert by India Meteorological Department (IMD) for northwest and central India for the next 4-5 days. The rising heat and the hot and dry conditions could well cause more fire in the jungles.
As on April 7, 2025, over 169 ‘large forest fire’ incidents are presently active in the country, says data from the Large Forest Fires Monitoring Programme of the Forest Survey of India (FSI), under the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change.
Madhya Pradesh has reported the highest number of large forest fires (67) on a single day , followed by Chhattisgarh (23), and Maharashtra (21).
The Indian Himalayan region has not been spared either. In the last 12 days, 94 forest fires were reported in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). As per news reports, the situation is grave especially in South Kashmir. Wildfires are spreading in Uttarakhand with 87 incidents reported in the first five days of April. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami directed officials to control forest fires.
In the neighbourhood of Uttarakhand, major and unprecedented fire incidents were reported in Nepal. The fire incidents sent alarms in the establishment and communities, which are dependent on forest resources for their livelihood.
According to FSI’s Forest Fire Alerts System 3.0, the top five states reporting fire incidents in seven days period since March 31 include — Madhya Pradesh (3,204 fire incidents), Chhattisgarh (1,621), Manipur (1,424), Maharashtra (1,056), and Odisha at (967).
Even earlier, as per the FSI data, between January and April 7, 2025, there were 11,908 large forest fires across the country.
Madhya Pradesh tops this list with 1,743 large forest fires, followed by Maharashtra (1,245), Odisha (1,178), and Chhattisgarh (1,045).
The incidents of forest fires, FSI data shows, have gradually risen since November 2024 when 1,761 fire incidents were reported in the country (as recorded by SNPP sensor). These increased to 3,703 fires in December 2024 and jumped to 5,938 fires in January this year.
There was a sharp increase in February 2025, when 23,081 fires were reported. In March the numbers spiked even more with 84,642 fire incidents. It has been only a week into April and 16,030 fires have already been recorded in the country.
FSI has been alerting State Forest Departments of forest fire locations detected by the MODIS sensor onboard Aqua and Terra Satellites of NASA since 2004. From 2017, FSI has started disseminating alerts obtained from SNPP-VIIRS sensor, which has a better resolution (375 m × 375 m) compared to MODIS (1 km × 1 km).
March rains missing
Forest fires are caused due to several reasons, the majority of which are anthropogenic in nature. Prolonged dry spells also contribute to the risk of forest fires.
Since March this year, large parts of the country — especially north, northwest and central India — have been facing extremely dry conditions, as reflected in IMD’s rainfall data.
Madhya Pradesh, which is facing maximum forest fire incidents, has reported a deficient rainfall of minus 68 per cent between March 1 and April 7. Jammu & Kashmir has received less than half of its normal rainfall in the same period.
Dry winter spell
The winter season this year has been largely dry with deficient rainfall and snowfall. For instance, in January 2025, the country received 72 per cent less rainfall than normal. Central India was worst affected with a deficient rainfall of minus 96.1 per cent. The Northwest region received 80.6 per cent below normal rainfall between January 1 and January 30, 2025 (see Rainfall Statistics — Winter 2025).
The reason for deficient winter precipitation is the changing pattern of the Western Disturbance (WD), a weather system which is decreasing in frequency and intensity. This is a matter of concern both in terms of food security and water security.
Climate scientists warn that there is a decreasing trend in winter snow or winter precipitation over the northern region of the country, as reported in Dialogue Earth. This is related to the less-frequent passage of western disturbances. Climate models suggest a further decrease of about 10-15 per cent in the frequency of WDs by 2050 or so.
Forest Fire: An Emerging Climate Disaster
Fires are a major cause of degradation of India’s forests. While statistical data on fire loss are weak, it is estimated that the proportion of forest areas prone to forest fires annually ranges from 33 per cent in some states to over 90 per cent in others, notes the National Remote Sensing Centre of ISRO.
According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), 35.46 per cent of the country’s total forest cover is vulnerable to forest fires. These fires have a wide ranging adverse ecological, economic and social impacts. There is a loss of livelihood for the tribal communities. Approximately 65 million people are classified as tribals who directly depend upon collection of non-timber forest products from the forest areas for their livelihood.
Wildfire risks depend on a number of factors, including temperature, soil moisture, and the presence of trees, shrubs, and other potential fuel. All these factors have strong direct or indirect ties to climate variability and climate change. Climate change enhances the drying of organic matter in forests, which again facilitates the quick spread of wildfire.
Multiple global studies have found that climate change has already led to an increase in wildfire season length, wildfire frequency, and burned area. The wildfire season has lengthened in many areas due to factors including warmer springs, longer summer dry seasons, and drier soils and vegetation.
Similarly, climate change threatens to increase the frequency, extent, and severity of fires through increased temperatures and drought. Earlier spring melting and reduced snowpack result in decreased water availability during summers, which in turn contributes to an increased wildfire risk. Fires start and spread more easily.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has warned that these trends of longer wildfire seasons and larger wildfire size will likely continue as more frequent and longer droughts occur.
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