forest fires

While the recent forest fires in Nainital have made headlines, IFS officer Dr Abdul Qayum had long back built an award-winning system to prevent forest fires in Arunachal.

Jharkhand’s Lohardaga district has 400 villagers who have doubled their income by turning dry leaves, the source of their forest fires, into briquettes.

"Almost no one was doing anything constructive about the pine needles. We wanted to elevate this material and make something that had a potential for mass appeal."