Villagers help foresters douse Bandipur blaze

MYSURU: A major fire in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve destroyed hundreds of acres of forest land on Saturday. As the fire engulfed core areas of the forest due to strong wind and dry grass, foresters along with fire service personnel, wildlife volunteers and villagers struggled to douse it.

Foresters said it's an act of sabotage. Due to dry grass and lantana weed which has spread across the forest, the fire spread rapidly within a few minutes. The fire was first noticed on Friday near Mangala, Shivapura and Hundipura on the forest border but due to strong wind, it spread to Bandipur forest range and then to Gopalaswamy Betta forest range which comes under Bandipur Tiger Reserve.

Foresters closed the checkpost gate at Melkammanahalli, the entrance to the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, on the Mysuru-Ooty highway and also stopped the wildlife safari. Foresters also closed the checkpost at Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta and stopped KSRTC bus service to Gopalaswamy Temple.

As the checkpost on the highway which connects to Tamil Nadu was closed around 12.30pm, weekend travellers en route to Ooty were stranded at the Bandipur entrance gate. While some waited for foresters to open the gate, others returned to Mysuru, hoping to restart their journey on Sunday.

It's estimated that over 400 acres of forest land was destroyed and hundreds of wild animals life killed in the raging fire.

Forest officers led by director Ambady Madhav, guards and wildlife volunteers along with fire service staff started dousing the blaze using fire engines and by traditional method of beating the fire with leaves by hand.

Gundlupet wildlife activist Shantha Murthy told STOI that he and his friends are helping the forest department kill the fire which was noticed at Magginahalli around 3.30am on Saturday. "Hundreds of villagers are also helping foresters douse the fire," he said.

Gundlupet Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) Hangala president Mahadevappa said, "I suspect the fire is manmade and foresters are unable to control it."