Hyderabad: A forest fire destroyed nearly 40 acres of the 3,600-acre Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park on Thursday morning. It is believed that the fire was triggered by someone throwing a lit cigarette butt in the park.
The park, located at Vanasthalipuram, is home to the endangered Black Buck and Chousingha along with other animals like spotted deer, wild boar and peacock.
Three fire engines doused the blaze. Forest department officials said no animal or human casualties were reported. Forest officials said that the section of the forest where the fire occurred is located close to human habitation outside the national park.
The fire must have been a man-made one, Vamshi Priya, forest range officer at the national park, said, “The place where the fire occurred had a lot of tall dried grass, a suitable habitat for the Black Buck. But fires spread quickly in such areas.”
The density of wild animals is not thick in the park and the Black Buck fled the place after the fire broke out, she said. “We also saw some hare escaping during fire fighting operations,” she said.
“We have been working on creating sectoral fire lines in which forest area is divided into sectors by vegetation-less lines of around three-metre-width to prevent the spread of fire to large areas,” Ms Priya said.
