Forest fire comes under control after three days

The forest fire which showed up in Athur and Anekadu forests of Norther Kodagu was brought under control on Wednesday, thereby making forest officials heave a sigh of relief.

The forest fire, which was first seen in Athur forest area on Sunday evening gradually engulfed Heroor, Kallurbetta and reached Anekadu. Several trees, bamboos and Lantena bushes have been destroyed in the forest fire. Along with this, valuable timbers in large quantity too have been reduced to ashes.

More than 150 staff from both Forest and Fire department slogged to bring the fire under control over three days. Madikeri Division Deputy Conservator of Forest K S Anand said that apart from forest and fire personnel, even the local residents played a vital role in bringing fire under control.

He said that since there are possibilities of fire spreading further due to the heat and breeze, forest officials have camped in the region itself to keep a vigil. However, it is said that if rain makes an appearance then the entire problem will be solved in one go.

Since the wild elephants have lost their staple food in the incident, there are all possibilities of wild elephant menace getting intense in days to come.