The preliminary inquiry by the state forest department into the massive fire which ravaged around 300 hectares of prime forests in Wayanad on Sunday has found that the fire was man-made, raising suspicion it could be a deliberate act of sabotage. The report was submitted by APCCF (Vigilance) C S Yalakki to state forest minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan on Monday, based on details gathered from respective divisional forest officers. According to it the 300 hectares is spread across the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) and north Wayanad forest division. The damage was highest at the Begur range under the north Wayanad forest division with 200 acres of land, mostly teak plantations, getting burnt. In the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, the fire ravaged 80 hectares in Tholpetty range and 10 hectares each in Muthanga and Sultan Bathery ranges. Thiruvanchoor said that he has ordered a detailed probe into the incident. If we find any foul play, we will register a case, he said. The fire, which was noticed in the early morning on Sunday, became uncontrollable due to the presence of large quantity of flowered, dead and dried bamboo in the area, coupled with heavy winds. Forest officials said the fact that the fires erupted at around 15 locations simultaneously raised suspicions that it could be the result of a deliberate act. Sabotage could be a possibility as there have been attempts by vested interests in the district to inflame peoples sentiments over forest-related issues like night time ban on traffic through NH 212. Forests offices and staff have repeatedly come under attack and there were open threats that the forests would be burnt down, said a senior forest official. He added that the fire started off in forests near human habitations. The incident also exposed the unpreparedness of the department in dealing with forest fires. Forest officials were forced to battle the inferno by setting off counter fires and physically beating out the fires with long leafy branches in many areas. The efforts to use counter fire to contain the blaze failed due to heavy winds. Though fire engines were deployed, they were of limited use due to lack of road accessibility in interior forests. Finally, we managed to contain the fire by Sunday evening by using the forests roads as a fire belt, said North Wayanad DFO A Shanavas.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 07:49:42 +0000
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