Fire In India Research Articles

Ecosystem services and forest fires in India — Context and policy implications from a case study in Andhra Pradesh

Tropical landscapes are often burned by forest dwellers to obtain certain ecosystem services (ES). We analyze the importance of ES derived with the help of fires from a tropical dry forest in Andhra Pradesh, India, and conclude that regular burning of the forest is crucial for local livelihoods. We highlight the importance of “fire-driven ecosystem services (FDES)” through investigating 557 rural households' livelihood spread across 14 villages in the Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh. Results show that regular forest burning procures valuable forest products like fuel wood and fodder grass, mainly serving domestic purposes.We discuss the tradeoffs that would result from an alteration of the existing fire scenario with respect to FDES, the likely impact on local economies, and possible management options. We conclude that the importance of FDES must be taken into consideration while designing forest conservation and management policies.

Facial disfigurement stigma: a study of victims of domestic assaults with fire in India.

In India, the incidence of fire attacks on women has risen dramatically. Although studies and media accounts describe how and why these attacks occur, no research has investigated the lives of survivors. Qualitative analysis of the texts of two focus groups of women scarred by domestic attacks by fire reveals that these women are heavily stigmatized. Using Yang et al.'s theory that stigma is a response to perceived threats to values of everyday life and feminist theory as guides, the study identified two patterns of moral threat related to disfigurement: (a) Disfigurement challenges values and practices of women's family roles, and (b) disfigurement threatens normative religious sensibilities.

A geo-information system approach for forest fire likelihood based on causative and anti-causative factors

Innumerable forest fire spread models exist for taking a decision, but far less focus is on the real causative factors which initiate/ignite fire in an area. It has been observed that the majority of the forest fires in India are initiated due to anthropogenic factors. In this study, we develop a geo-information system approach for management of forest fire in Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu, India, with the objective to develop a forest fire likelihood model, integrating GIS and knowledge-based approach for predicting fire-sensitive initiation areas considering major causative and anti-causative factors. Amongst the various causative factors investigated, it was found that wildlife-dependent factor (antler collection and poaching) contributed significantly to fire occurrence followed by management-dependent factors (uncontrolled tourism and grazing), with much less influence of demographic factors. Similarly, anti-causative factor (stationing of anti-poaching/ fire camps) was considered as quite significant.The likelihood model so developed, envisaging various factors and flammability, accounted for different scenarios as a result of pair-wise comparison on an ordinal scale in a knowledge matrix. The inferential statistics computed indicated the robustness of the model and its insensitivity to moderate changes. It makes it possible for this forest fire likelihood model to predict and prevent a forest fire in an effective and scientific manner because it can assume forest fire likelihood in real time and present in proper time.

Antico indiano víbhakti- e greco πτÒσις : preistoria di due diverse metafore della flessione nominale

The present paper aims to show how the idea of ‘nominal inflection’ and ‘grammatical case’ arose in India and Greece. Starting from a different milieu, it is also linked to different metaphors: the dismembering of the sacrificial fire in India and the falling of a body from an erected position (or from above) in Greece. While the first metaphor is perfectly clear in its lines of development, the second one gave rise to many explanations. Its birth could be due to a peculiar lecture of Homeric and Platonic texts made by Aristotle himself.

Fatal Fire and Tritium Poisoning Leave Nuclear Labs Searching for Answers

On 28 December, two biochemistry Ph.D. students burned to death in a mysterious fire in India's main nuclear laboratory, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai. A month earlier, dozens of workers at a nuclear plant in Kaiga were exposed to tritium in an apparent case of attempted poisoning.

Impact of climate change on forest ecosystem and forest fire in India

Impact of climate change on forest ecosystem and forest fire in India

Impact of climate change on forest ecosystem and forest fire in India

This article was submitted without an abstract, please refer to the full-text PDF file.

Affected Parents' and Other Stakeholders' Perception of a Fire Disaster Management in India: A Situational Analysis

Fires that result in a large number of deaths and injuries are quite common in India, presenting many complex emergency management challenges. While significant improvement in disaster management has been noted in recent years, full integration of government emergency management initiatives at the provincial level is still in its infancy. This article presents the findings of a study of a school fire in India that resulted in the deaths of 93 children. The effective provincial level management of this fire, in the absence of a well-defined disaster management plan, was quite encouraging and provides guidance for other disaster managers in the country. The purpose of the study was to analyze the factors leading to the tragedy, the response of the stakeholders, the relief and rehabilitation support provided to the affected families, and the perceptions of the affected parents regarding their level of satisfaction with the management of this disaster. Extensive visits were made to the damaged school, schools where the rescued and evacuated children were relocated, affected households, injured children, various stakeholders and institutions playing a significant role in managing the incident, and nongovernment organizations working in the field. The study methodology included structured interviews to determine the parents' level of satisfaction with the different elements of the response, participant observations, intensive interaction with the members of the affected families, and focused group discussion with different relevant government officials. The findings indicate a high level of parent and stakeholder satisfaction in the majority of response and relief efforts associated with the disaster. Also reinforced were the importance of adherence to school safety regulations; the role of effective relief and rehabilitation; public-private partnership in disaster management; and the importance of media management, humanitarian assistance during crisis management and response, gender sensitivity in relief and rehabilitation, and services provided to reduce mental health risks for the injured children and families who lost their children in the incident. While the participants in the study perceived the management of the disaster as highly satisfactory, several disaster management elements, particularly disaster mental health services, require further attention at all levels.

Review of the Kumbakonam school fire in India: Lessons learned

A school fire at a government-aided school in Kumbakonam, India, killed 93 children and injured 21 on July 16, 2004. The school was tailor-made for a disaster, with its narrow stairway, poor lighting, thatched roof, kitchen in close proximity of the school building, past incidences of minor fire breakouts, and only one collapsible exit in the classroom. Strong winds and an absence of teachers on the day of the tragedy added to the vulnerability of the school, leading to the disaster. The government responded to the situation ef - fectively by providing adequate physical relief and rehabilitation to the parents of the deceased children and to injured students. The government was supported by various nongovernmental organizations and the corporate sector, which rose to the occasion. Psychosocial counseling was also carried out for the affected parents. Various recommendations resulting from analysis of the event in - clude developing comprehensive district and school disaster management plans using a multihazard approach, ensuring the safety of the school, instituting a proper psychiatric referral system for the affected, counseling the injured and rescued students to facilitate their relocation in different schools, training teachers and all others involved in school management in disaster management, and educating students about fire safety in school.

Use of epidemiology in the public space: reconstruction of a train fire in India

This account is the outcome of an independent investigation into the burning of a coach of the Sabarmati Express in February 2002 in Northwest India. In this fire, 59 occupants were charred to death and the initial official reports suggested that some arsonists deliberately burnt the coach. The propagation of this information and associated events resulted in large-scale violence in the state of Gujarat in India when over one thousand citizens lost their lives. This paper presents the results of a study done two years later using all the epidemiological tools available and shows that earlier reports are probably wrong and how scientific investigations can help in preserving community harmony. Epidemiological methods can be used to reconstruct events in a more reliable way than hearsay and anecdotal techniques used by laypersons. The results of the indicate that: (i) It is highly unlikely that the fire could have started on the aisle floor outside the toilet by throwing of inflammable fluid (as claimed in official reports). (ii) The resultant dense and high temperature smoke spread along the ceiling of the carriage and eventually resulted in a flashover when the fire engulfed the entire coach. (iii) Over a hundred passengers attempted to escape through a narrow exit away from the fire. Those who were not overcome by the toxic fumes of the fire could get away. The rest probably became unconscious before they could escape and were subjected to dense and toxic fumes and radiative heat, resulting in asphyxiation and death.

Forest fires in India: policy initiatives for community participation

Forest fires in India: policy initiatives for community participation

Academic Freedom Under Fire in India

"Academic Freedom Under Fire in India." Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 8(4), pp. 22–23