The Mudumalai Tiger Reserve near here will be closed from March 5.
Stating this in a press note issued here on Wednesday, the Field Director of the Reserve Raghuram Singh said that the Chief Wildlife Warden has issued a directive to close the reserve on account of the extremely dry conditions there and the chances of bush fires breaking out.
He said that it will be closed till the situation improves. The Deputy Director of the reserve Ameer Haja told The Hindu that fire prevention measures would be stepped up. Stating that as of now, there were 100 fire watchers, he said that 20 more have been added. Due to timely action taken, two bush fires which broke out over the last two days near Masinagudy and Moyar were prevented from spreading.
