Forest fires are a big hazard in Meghalaya and, according to the Global Forest Watch, there were 440 fire alerts reported between 1st of April 2024 and 31st of March 2025. Only in 2025, there have been over 260 fire alerts.
However, this figure has been characterised as normal, emphasising the annual, recurring, and widespread nature of the problem. In 2012, 745 fire alerts were the highest number reported. Between 2001 and 2023, such incidents have led to a loss of 2.29 thousand hectares of tree cover from the forest.
The district of West Khasi Hills reported the highest rate of tree cover loss because of forest fires. All of this, however, constituted only 0.99% of the total tree cover loss from all sources, revealing that other factors are more important in driving deforestation in the state.
However, because of the highly striking visual impact of fires, it may appear forest fires are the primary cause of tree cover loss in the state. This is not the case. Along with this misconception, another fallacy also blames the traditional practice of jhum, or shifting cultivation, for the decline in forest cover in the state.
While reporting on statistics from the Global Forest Watch, a local daily blamed jhum as the primary driver of these fires; however, the website from which the data was extracted made no such mention. This claim is also highly inaccurate.
Jhum or shifting cultivation is an ancient form of farming practice which is being practiced by many indigenous communities throughout the world. It is derogatorily called slash-and-burn, but in Thailand, people know it as rotational farming.
There are many versions of it, with the most famous example being the milpa system from Mexico. In 2023, FAO-UN recognised the Yucatec Milpa Maya (a form of shifting cultivation characterised by the Three Sisters principle—corn, beans, and squash) as one of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) sites of the world acknowledging its traditional agroforestry system and cultural significance. In Meghalaya, particularly in the Khasi region, jhum is known as Rep Shyrtie and is still a prominent farming system in many communities contributing to food security and livelihood.
Jhum is mostly practiced in areas where forest cover is still very thick. In grasslands, it is not jhum but bun which is practised. Both systems are quite similar in that they require rotation of plots, but the fallow period is shorter in bun compared to jhum.
Farmers use plots in jhum for one year, then leave them fallow for ten or more years before returning. In bun, farmers use the plots for two years and leave them fallow for only five to six years. Therefore, we cannot attribute any fire seen in grassland areas to jhum farming because farmers don’t practice it there.
As for the forest, you can again have a pine forest and non-pine forest. Forest fires in pine areas have been frequently observed, and I have witnessed a few myself. But jhum is again found to be practiced mostly in non-pine forests which are at lower elevations.
A good example of it is the tropical broadleaf evergreen forests that are found along the southern slopes, i.e., the War areas.
In the East Khasi hills, people practice jhum in these forests, while they primarily cultivate ginger in pine forests. So, the possibilities of loss of tree cover because of forest fires that might have escaped from the jhum fields are mostly in non-grassland and broadleaf forests. But even where jhum is practiced, the community follows well-established principles to prevent uncontrolled forest fires. A few years ago, I took part in land preparation for jhum and saw how fire management was an important concern for the farmers.
In 2019, I, along with Lukas Pawera, a Czech researcher, visited a village that lay along the spurs that jut out of the Sohra Plateau. It was the last week of February and the trees felled in January for clearing the land for cultivation had become sufficiently dry.
The debris had gained a reddish tinge and strong winds were blowing from the south. From the cooler breeze and cloudy sky, it was clear that rains were about to begin and the Durbar Shnong had fixed the date for burning the debris in order to take advantage of the first rains.
I and the Czech researcher reached the village early in the morning. A large group had already gathered around the plot, with some engaged in creating the fire line. We volunteered and were given waits (Khasi machetes) to assist. Working from all four corners, we cleared the undergrowth and removed debris, creating a line of approximately 10-15 feet at the top and 5-6 feet at the corners.
We did this to prevent the fire from spreading from the plot to the surrounding forest. Sentries were also stationed along the boundary, equipped with long bamboo poles, tree branches, and banana leaves to extinguish any stray embers. Some were also ready to throw soil to bring the fire under control.
The plot chosen for cultivation was near a house with a small home garden that contained many vegetables and fruit trees. One farmer stripped the banana stem’s outer layer and used it to wrap the young orange trees. By the time preparations were done, it was already late afternoon. The timing of the burning depends on the aspect of the land. If the plot is facing to the north (leeward side) the fire is lit around 12 pm as the moisture content in these zones is comparatively higher. However, if the plot is facing south (windward side), burning normally starts after 3 pm in order to avoid the fire becoming uncontrollable. They also apply fire from the top, pushing it down as the flames intensify. Around 4 pm, the final preparations were completed, and the burning started.
What was of most interest was that it was the children who were chosen to light the fire, while the elders instructed them. Among the Wa, an Austroasiatic community found today in Myanmar and China, it is the children who bring back the flames that will light the hearth, which will burn throughout the entire year.
This is done as part of the New Fire Festival held once a year, where a new flame is lit and distributed to each household. The Khasis also have a folktale which tells of the story of how fire, Ka Ding, came to live with human beings, promising to only consume the dead and the withered materials.
In the past, Khasis cremated their dead and jhum was probably the most pervasive method of farming. Fire, on both occasions, is very important. So, the practice of allowing children to light the fire is concerned with the inter-generational transfer of knowledge and keeping the memory of the past alive, linking them with the ancient practice of their ancestors.
Once the fire was lit, the flames grew strong, very fast, since the debris had dried up completely. In the middle, there were more experienced farmers who tended the fire, pushing it down the slope. The blaze rose many feet up in the sky and for those unaccustomed, it might appear that the fire had gone out of control. However, this was a very well managed and orchestrated fire. It lasted for less than two hours, with the flames contained within the plot. Once the last embers had died out, the community dispersed and went back to their homes, allowing the ash to settle in the soil, fertilising it. Once the first showers arrive, the plot would then be ready for cultivation. Potato, cassava, maize, mustard, and common bean were the first crops that were sown, with the next planting season being in June.
Jhum is well known for harbouring the greatest degree of agrobiodiversity, with farmers growing dozens of species in the same plot.
All the food that we eat falls into ten groups: (1) grains, white roots, tubers and plantains; (2) pulses (beans, peas and lentils); (3) nuts and seeds; (4) dairy; (5) meat, poultry and fish; (6) eggs; (7) dark green leafy vegetables; (8) other vitamin-A-rich fruits and vegetables; (9) other vegetables; and (10) other fruits. Seven of these are plant-based, and three are animal-based. A single plot can contain all the seven-planted based foods, supplying the body with essential macro and micronutrients for a healthy diet. It will be interesting to understand how much of Meghalaya’s alarmingly high malnutrition is because of a change from jhum to other farming systems.
Forest fires are an important to Meghalaya’s rich biodiversity, but it is deforestation from other factors, mining, quarrying, felling of trees for timber, which are to blame for 99% of the tree cover loss in the state.
Even within forest fires, jhum is hardly the primary culprit as the community practicing this system has well-established principles of fire management that make forest fires highly unlikely. Most likely, it is arson and accidental fire started by picnickers, who are most probably responsible for these fires. I have seen forest fires in areas where jhum is not practiced. Singling out jhum for these fires is therefore unfair. Instead, with the impact of climate change becoming more pervasive, one can learn from the principles of fire management under jhum and built mechanisms that can bring this problem under control. Understanding the problem is the first step to solving it.
Views expressed in the article are those of the author and do not reflect in any way his affiliation to any organisation or institution.
Also Read: Is Mizoram’s free healthcare system already on life support?