Forest fire atop hillock near Madanapalle

Shiva temple located some yards away from the site is safe: Forest official

Fire at Mallaiahkonda hillock in Chittoor district on Wednesday.

A major forest fire broke out at the tri-hill junction of Mallaiahkonda, Sadhu Konda and Inumu Konda in Tamballapalle constituency, 40 km from Madanpapalle, on Wednesday. The fire was brought under control by the evening. Officials of the forest and fire departments termed it a “general fire”.

The hillock temple of Lord Shiva, known as Mallaiah Swamy, at Mallaiahkonda, 15 km from Tamballapale, has been witnessing a steady flow of devotees since a week with the onset of the Shivaratri festival, falling on February 24. Going by local traditions, devotees trek the hill flanked by two other hills and opt to spend a night near the temple during the festive season.

The forest watchers observed a small fire on the slopes close to the footpath in the morning. Soon, it spread to other areas and became uncontrollable by noon. About 100 forest guards and a big throng of local people rushed to the valley point and controlled the fire in over seven hours. Preliminary estimate is that the fire had spread to over 500 hectares.

Divisional Forest Officer T. Chakrapani, who rushed to the spot and oversaw the firefighting exercise, said some devotees climbing down the hill had set fire to the wild grass.

“Before our personnel could rush to the spot, the fire spread alarmingly, but we were successful in containing it completely. The fire occurred at the upper reaches, several yards away from the Shiva Temple, which is absolutely safe. The forest here is covered with wild weeds and grass, and there are no trees. The forest in these three hills does not house any considerable wildlife species,” the official said.

Plea to devotees

The official expressed anguish that it was unfortunate that those coming to the hillock temple resorted to set fire to the wild grass. He appealed to the devotees not to throw matchsticks or cook close to the grassland en route.

District Fire Officer V. Srinivasa Reddy said the forest fire was of “general nature”. As the fire tender could not proceed into the valley point, the fire fighting was undertaken by the forest guards and the locals, he said.