With summer round the corner and forest fires posing a threat, a collective of drawing teachers in Wayanad district organised an innovative programme here to avert a disaster in the hill district.
They set eight huge canvases at the Collectorate garden here on Tuesday morning and showed their drawing skills on the canvas to sensitise the public on the significance of the need to prevent forest fires.
The programme was organised jointly by the Forest and Wildlife Department in association with the Education Department, as part of the ‘Forest fire-free Wayanad’ campaign being organised by the Social Forestry Division, Wayanad.
As many as 15 drawing teachers from various schools in the district along with Forest Department personnel participated in the programme.
Speaking after inaugurating the programme by drawing on the canvas at the Collectorate, District collector A.R. Ajayakumar said every year thousands of hectares of forestland in the country worth more than ₹500 crore was being destroyed in forest fires.
Delivering the presidential address, A. Shajna Kareem, Assistant Conservator of Forest, Social Forestry Division, Wayanad, said the Department had organised the innovative programme to make the public, including villagers and tribesmen living on the fringes of forests, aware of the significance of forest conservation and the impact of forest fires.
