Hyderabad: Forest fires continue to break out in Telangana with several more being reported on Wednesday from Amrabad Tiger Reserve. Forest department officials in the field hope that the number of fires in the reserve will come down after Mahashivaratri festival this coming Friday.
Last year, in the one week run-up to the festival, when tens of thousands of pilgrims trek to Srisailam temple, there were 174 fires in the reserve. This year, there have not been so many so far, said the district forest officer of Nagarkurnool district, M. Joji. “We have been encouraging pilgrims trekking to the Srisailam temple to stick to the road and not to light fires in the forest. We have nine drinking water supply camps along the forest road and at every point, our staff explains the importance of not starting fires,” he said. Despite efforts, fresh fires are being reported every day in the tiger reserve, particularly on the road between Vatvarlapalli and Domalapenta villages.
