Fire from pvt land spreads to forest in Madukkarai range

A large team comprising anti-poaching watchers and anti-depredation squad battled out for several hours to put off the fire. The fire, which broke out in a private ‘patta’ land abutting the forest boundary, had eventually spread to the forest area near ‘Navakkarai Pirivu.’

On receiving information, a 20-member team got into action and cleared the grass surrounding the fire spot to prevent the fire from spreading further.

“However, the shrubs in more than four hectares were burnt completely. Luckily, the gutted area did not have any trees and was devoid of any wild animals at the time of incident,” said an official.

The Forest Department believes that it could be a man-made fire and has been involved in sensitizing the people in neighbouring areas.