PrashantNews
Much before the onset of the summers, the Uttarakhand government has hiked its procurement price of pine needles, a big source of igniting forest fires, from Rs 3 per kg to Rs 10 per kg for their use in making green energy and new bio-products.
Looking at the vast scope of utilization of pine needles locally known as pirul, the government has been procuring the needles in the hope that move would help control the forest fires what destroy a big chunk of jungles every year and generate income for locals. The forest department has already decided to set up seven more pine needle briquette units in the state taking the total number to 12.
Chir pines trees grow between altitudes of 1000 to 2000 meters in the middle Himalayas. According to a rough estimate by the state, at least 15 lakh metric tons of pine needles can be procured annually. Out of the 2,586,318 hectares of forest area in Uttarakhand, which has 13 different tree species, chir pine forests cover 3.9 lakh hectares (15.2%).
However, bio-energy projects set up by the Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA), for generating electricity were not found technically and financially viable, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami recently told the Vidhan Sabha in a written reply.
Few years ago, the government had launched efforts to produce green power from the pine needles in a bid to reduce their quantity in the jungles as they catch fire very quickly.
For the past few years, forest fires have been creating havoc in the jungles of Uttarakhand, razing several hectares of land and even killing people and animals. Scientists say the main culprit behind the spread of such fires is pine needles which catch fire quickly.