A massive forest fire that continued for the third day on Saturday has devastated a large tract of the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, one of the well protected wildlife sanctuaries in the country.
As per preliminary estimates, over 50 hectares of core forest area in the Vengoly region under the Sungam division was ravaged in the fire that spread from the adjoining Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu.
Though specially commissioned helicopters of the Air Force from Sulur in Coimbatore were used to douse the fire on Friday, a number of birds, nests, reptiles and small mammals perished even on Saturday with the fire consuming vast stretches of interior forests.
The helicopters had to return to Coimbatore without finishing the work because of insufficient availability of fuel.
After 11 years
Officials said the helicopters had sprinkled 26,500 litres of water, fetched from the Thoonakadavu dam, to extinguish the fire.
Tiger reserve deputy director B.N. Anjan Kumar said the reserve was witnessing forest fire after a gap of eleven years. It was around 2 p.m. on Thursday that forest fire from Anamalai started spreading into the Kerala reserve, despite the presence of a 5.2-metre fireline.
Sungam area hit
The fire caused maximum damage to the Sungam and Thoonakadavu areas. Scanty rainfall on Saturday evening in some portions of the reserve too helped douse the fire.
Officials said they are assessing the impact of the fire that has ruined the fragile ecosystem of the reserve apart from its rich flora and fauna.
Tribal residents of Parambikulam who took part actively in the firefighting said they found burnt carcasses of many reptiles, including pythons. They could rescue a couple of wild piglets.
District Collector P. Marykutty and senior forest officials have been camping in Parambikulam for three days to coordinate firefighting works.
Tribal hamlets saved
Special efforts were taken to prevent the fire from engulfing over a dozen tribal settlements in the Sunam-Thoonakadavu region.
Fire and Rescue Services personnel from Palakkad, Thrissur, and Pollachi were pressed into action to minimise the impact of the incident.
The Parambikulam reserve and the adjoining Nelliampathy hill ranges form one of the rich biodiversity hotspots in the Western Ghats. Summer this year has been extremely severe in Parambikulam.
