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Kashmir must shift from fighting forest fires to preventing them 

Saving the Zabarwan Hills from the Flames

Representational Photo

The Zabarwan Hills have long been part of Srinagar’s identity. Rising above Dal Lake, their forests soften the city’s skyline, shelter wildlife and protect slopes that are as ecologically fragile as they are visible. Yet in recent years, the same hills have repeatedly revealed another face, dry ridgelines glowing with fire, smoke drifting across the valley and emergency crews struggling to reach terrain never designed for rapid intervention. 

Each blaze is more than an isolated forestry incident. It exposes a wider vulnerability in Kashmir’s approach to environmental risk, one that places too much weight on emergency response and too little on prevention. The question is no longer whether the Zabarwan can burn, it can, and it has. The question is whether Kashmir will invest in the early warning, planning and coordinated action needed to stop the next spark from becoming a catastrophe. 

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The terrain makes management unusually difficult. Steep slopes, exposed ridges, dense vegetation and limited access complicate firefighting. In dry spells, fallen leaves, grasses, dead branches and forest litter become highly combustible and in pine-dominated patches, fallen needles ignite readily. Once flames reach the canopy or race across a ridge, containment becomes far harder. Fire engines cannot reach every slope, and trained personnel must often approach on foot with beaters and rakes. Seasonal preparedness is therefore essential.

 Across Jammu and Kashmir, the main forest-fire season generally runs from March to June, with April and May often the riskiest. Yet danger does not vanish outside these months, prolonged autumn dryness, scant rainfall and strong winds can leave slopes exposed. 

Vigilance must follow local weather, vegetation and fire-danger assessments rather than the calendar alone. Human activity can turn these conditions into disaster. An unattended campfire, a discarded cigarette or agricultural waste burned near a forest boundary may be enough to start a blaze. Every incident should be investigated, but preventing avoidable ignitions remains among the most practical ways to reduce risk. 

The Forest Department, through its field staff and the Forest Protection Force, is central to patrolling, detecting........

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