India, May 25 -- India's summer heat not just scorches streets every year, it's also searing through some of the country's richest forest ecosystems, displacing wildlife and destroying decades of ecological growth, writes ABHI SINGHAL

Each passing summer in India seems hotter than the last. Heat waves scorch plains and hills alike and the mercury's relentless rise isn't just an urban discomfort but it fuels a grave environmental crisis in the country's rich forest belts. The summer months, particularly from March to June, have become a tinderbox season when the dry, moisture-deprived forest floors becomes a bed of fire waiting for a spark.

India's geographical diversity from the Himalayas to the Western Ghats and the Eastern forests mak...