Fire at Asia’s Second largest Biosphere Reserve refuses to douse
Mayurbhanj, Mar 8: Simlipal National Park, Asia’s second largest Biosphere Reserve, has been burning since more than 10 days and has ravaged about one-third of the National Park. As the fire refuses to douse, the state government has deployed about 9 firefighting teams comprising of 50 fire department personnel into action. Generally, during the onset of summer, the forest area becomes susceptible to forest fires due to low humidity in the air and high temperatures. The fire department found that due to the drastically rising temperature, Odisha has seen the maximum number of forest fires in the country in just one week. A whopping 5,291 forest fires were recorded in the state between Feb 22 and March 1, 2021.
Simlipal is located in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district towards the eastern end of the eastern ghats. Simlipal and the adjoining areas, comprising 5,569 sq km, was declared a Biosphere Reserve (protected area reserved for the conservation of plants and animals) by the Government of India on June 22 1994.
Simlipal derives its name from ‘Simul’ which means ‘Silk-Cotton’ tree. It is also a tiger and elephant Reserve.
It is home to 94 species of orchids and over 3000 species of plants. Its fauna includes 12 species of amphibians, 29 species of reptiles, 42 species of mammals, and over 264 species of birds.
Simlipal National Park
8 out of 21 ranges of Simlipal are on fire. The fire has destroyed countless medicinal plants, burnt the rare and scarce wildlife species, and displaced the adivasis community.