Tirumala fire: Indian Air Force helps control inferno in the Seshachalam hills
Helicopters fitted with buckets carrying water were hovering over the forest to contain fire
Tirumala: The devastating fire in the Seshachalam hill ranges, the lone designated biosphere in the state, gradually subsided with the help of fire fighters assisted by the defence forces.
Two Indian Air Force helicopters fitted with huge buckets carrying water were hovering over the forest to douse the fast spreading fire. The choppers are lifting water from Kumaradhara and Pasupudhara dams. Each bucket, called ‘the Bambi Bucket’ carried approximately 3000 litres of water.
According to IAF sources this is the second aerial fire-fighting operation in the country. Earlier this year, IAF successfully contained the widespread forest fire at Mount Japfu in Nagaland.
Along with aerial fire fighting operations, ground level operations were also on, with about 100 army and navy personnel, additional teams from the Andhra Pradesh Fire services department, 500 odd employees of various departments of the Tirumala Tirupati Devastanamulu and hundreds of police personnel battling to contain fire.
The Seshachalam ranges, which fall on the southern part of the Eastern Ghats, covering an area of 4,755 sq km in the districts of Chittoor and Kadapa, was designated as a biosphere reserve by the Centre in 2010 considering its rich bio-diversity.
However, little has been done in preserving it over the years. The Seshachalam ranges has over 1,700 species of trees belonging to 178 families including the precious red sanders. It is home to many animals, some of them endangered, including the Asian elephant maximus, hyena, golden jackal, Indian fox, jungle cat, sloth bear, spotted deer, mouse deer and four-horned antelope. The world-renowned Lord Venkateswara temple is also located within the biosphere.
Forest fires are an annual phenomenon, but little has been done to spot fires or to develop means to douse them quickly and efficiently. The TTD spends crores as part of its afforestation drive including planting of medicinal plants, sandalwood trees and endangered flora but little has been done to augment fire fighting measures.
In 2012, a major fire broke out close to the second Ghat road near the Seventh Mile, destroying close to 200 acres of forests. It took around 10 hours to bring it under control. The then forest minister Satrucharla Vijayarama Raju had visited the spot and set up watch-squads to spot fires. But, despite that, nothing was done.
Had the blaze been detected earlier, it could have been arrested early, without much damage caused. Meanwhile, hundreds of guest houses and cottages have mushroomed close to the valleys resulting in massive deforestation.