The fire that broke out in the Western Ghats near the Papanasam dam on Thursday night was put out by Friday afternoon after a 16-hour battle by Forest personnel.
Forest Department sources said the fire that broke out near the Sorimuthu Ayyanar Temple in the Kalakkad–Mundanthuri Tiger Reserve (KMTR) on Thursday night spread rapidly with wind blowing strongly.
Though forest personnel were rushed to the spot immediately, they could not prevent the fire from spreading as the westerly wind velocity was high.
Additional reinforcements were rushed to the spot from other areas to expedite the fire fighting operation that ended around 2 p.m. No major damage to flora and fauna was reported immediately.
“Since we had already created ‘fire lines’ in vulnerable areas in advance by removing the dry grass, our personnel could successfully control the fire from spreading further. Moreover, a mild drizzle made our task a bit easy,” said R. Kanchana, Deputy Director, KMTR’s Ambasamumdram Division.
Taking about the weather, Dr. Kanchana said the areas around Papanasam dam would start receiving significant rainfall in a week or so, which will prevent incidents of fire.
She said a formal inquiry had been started to ascertain the reason behind the fire.
