Hundreds of acres of forest damaged in Mysuru wildfire

Smoke at the forest at Antharasanthe range, H D Kote taluk, on Thursday.

Just as the summer sets in, incidents of wildfire are being reported at several places in the Mysuru region, destroying vegetation on acres of forests.

The forest department had taken safety measures to prevent fire mishaps, by creating fire lines and deploying additional staff, well in advance. Man-made fires are said to be the main cause of such mishaps.

On Wednesday, a wildfire that spread fast, destroying forest at Antharasanthe Wildlife division, H D Kote taluk, Mysuru district. It was brought under control on Thursday.

According to locals, hundreds of acres of forest has been gutted. But, Nagarahole Tiger Project Director Mahesh Kumar, who denied this, said, “Miscreants have set fire to the forest and only around 20 hectares of vegetation is damaged”.

A resident of Udburu said the fire spread to around four-kilometre distance, from Udburu near Antharasanthe to Karapur on Mysuru-Manandavadi Road. Hundreds of acres must have been destroyed.

More than 500 personnel from the forest department and fire and emergency services tried to douse the fire via the ‘Counter fire’ method. The department personnel were on patrol the whole night to ensure that the fire does not erupt again, the officials said.

Around six hectares of forest was damaged at Konanuru in Nanjangud taluk, according to Range Forest Officer Rakshith. But, the trees planted by the forest department are not affected. Only lantana plants and bushes are destroyed, he said.

Banana plants at a few plantations were affected due to the fire, the villagers said.