Andhra Pradesh: Fresh fires in Tirumala forests, several hectares up in flames

Tirumala: Within 24 hours of the officials of the district administration and the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams calling off ‘Operation Seshachalam’ claiming that the forest fires were totally under control, several hectares of forests went up in flames by Friday evening.

Led by TTD additional chief vigilance and security officer Shiv Kumar Reddy, the Air Force crew of the two MI-17 V5 helicopters and the C-130 helicopter conducted aerial surveys yet again around the Seshachalam forests and as a precautionary measure, dispensed water on designated spots in the forests around 18 times.

After ensuring that the situation was under total control, the crew returned to the Renigunta Airport and were awaiting for the nod of the officials to return to their bases. However, much to the anguish of the officials, forest fires started yet again at three different spots along the Seshachalam ranges, one close to the Srivari Mettu footpath route, another near the 16th hairpin bend of the first ghat road and the third in the hill ranges near Mangalam.

The TTD has decided to hold back the helicopters to conduct yet another aerial fire-fighting operation on Saturday.