Chamarajnagar: While Bandipur National Park officials were bracing for the summer and the forest fires, Saturday’s shower, which lasted for about 50 minutes, brought them cheer as it cooled down temperature in the forest.
“It is the first rains for Bandipur and the showers were moderate, which covered Melkammanahalli check-post and Kekkahalla check-posts (adjoining Mudumalai National Park in Tamil Nadu) covering a distance of about 12-km,” said Srinivas, Range Forest Officer, Bandipur.
A couple of more showers before summer could make our task of combating forest fires easier, as moisture will keep the Park cool, he added.
Bandipur had received copious amount rainfall last year and the tanks in all its ranges were full. Srinivas observed that “All waterholes of the Park have water storage in them except one or two which might have gone a bit dry. There is no water scarcity, which will make animals stray out of the Park.”
As for fighting fire, he said fire lines have been created well in advance and our personnel go on regular patrols to monitor any incidents’ of fire and extinguish it before its spreads.
Bandipur saw its worst forest fires in 2017 and the Kalkere range was the worst hit. It also claimed the life of Murugeppa, a forest guard while he was engaged in fire fighting.
The Saturday’s rain also lashed in parts of Gopalaswamy Betta range and surrounding areas, bringing cheers to Park officials.
