Frontline but Forgotten: Kashmir’s Forest workers battle wildfires without safety gear

Srinagar, Dec 14: For 20 years, Bashir Ahmad Kumar has been risking his life for the forests of Kokernag.

By day, he guards the woods. By night, he rushes into burning forests-armed only with a stick.

“Even when it is midnight, we have to reach the spot,” the 45-year-old casual labourer said. “We don’t have any gloves, not to speak of other firefighting equipment.”

Kumar earns Rs 9,000 a month, often with long delays. Yet he is deployed to dangerous fire zones despite having no insurance, no training, and no compensation rights if he dies on duty.

“If God forbid, we become the casualty, our family is not even entitled to a job or compensation under SRO,” he said.

In 2023, a daily wager from Budgam died while extinguishing a blaze in the Pir Panjal range. “He was not provided any assistance at all,” said Muhammad Yousuf, 35, president of the Forest casual labourers’ association.

Yousuf, who has worked in the department for over a decade, was among the first to reach the Hengipora- Kapran forest when a massive fire erupted recently.

The flames raged for three days and claimed the life of Gul Muhammad Shah, a 54-year-old forest guard who slipped 50 metres down a slope.

Before that, two forest employees - Bashir Ahmad Wani and Mohammad Mohmin were injured fighting flames in Mawar forest range in the Nowgam sector of Handwara in North Kashmir.

“We face the flames barehanded,” Yousuf said. “Casual labourers and daily wagers aren’t trained to be part of firefighting teams, but we’re still forced into the woods without safety gear.”

He supports two sons, his wife and his elderly parents. Yet rules prevent him from taking on additional work. “We are paid abysmally low,” he said.

Forest, Wildlife, Social Forestry and Forest Protection Force (FPF) workers form the backbone of Kashmir’s firefighting response.

Most are low-rank employees equipped with sticks, rarely spades and nothing else.

“We don’t have any specialised equipment for firefighting,” a group of employees working as orderlies said. “We aren’t even given basic safety gear like fire-resistant clothing, gloves or shoes.”

“While everyone rests at home, we were in the jungles battling flames through the night,” one orderly said.

A senior official admitted the department is critically under-equipped.

“Yes, we face an acute shortage of equipment. We don’t even have a single fire extinguisher,” he said, listing missing tools like fire beaters, hooks, blankets, gumboots, fire suits, gloves and hoses.

DFO Social Forestry- Annatnag- Kulgam, Gazala Abdullah said. “The firefighting team should be completely protected before they go into the woods.”

“We are contemplating a plan for full fire-resistant kits and modern gadgets.”

Chief Conservator of Forests, Kahmir Irfan Rasool, said basic tools like spades are provided, but heavier gear is difficult to carry in rugged terrain.

He conceded that “casual labourers miss the equipment,” including gloves and protective shoes.

“In the forest, the best armour is a rake in the hand, a helmet on the head and strong boots on the ground,” Rasool said. “Rest becomes very heavy to carry on tough terrain when fire reports come in odd hours.”

The Environment and Climate Change Ministry classifies Jammu and Kashmir as a major forest fire hotspot.

Between November 2023 and June 2024, fires scorched 438 sq km of land.

In 2024–25 alone, 1,243 forest fires destroyed more than 3,550 hectares.

This year, 91 fires in February and March damaged 136 hectares, followed by 127 fires in April that burned another 174 hectares.

After a brief lull, early winter has brought another surge due to dried conditions.

Satellite alerts now arrive daily, but ground response remains painfully primitive.

Recent -massive fires in Hengipora-Kapran, Rajwar, Gurez, Mawar- Handwara, Chontihal- Chatergul, Poonch forests, Kellar, and other areas were controlled only after days of gruelling work by poorly equipped labourers.

For Kumar and thousands like him, the risk is constant, but so is the duty.

“We rush before thinking,” Yousuf said. “Because if we don’t go, the whole forest will burn.”