Telangana: Experts still clueless on forest disaster in Mulugu

A tornado like gusty winds at midnight on August 31uprooted one lakh trees spread over 204.3 hectares in the forest that included several types of medicinal plants. The incident not only shook the entire state but the nature lovers across the country.

The incident in the Eturnagaram forest region was the first of its kind in the history of the forest department. Officials of various departments led by the forest department took up a survey and are conducting an inquiry into the incident.

Based on the meteorological satellite data, officials are trying to find out the actual reasons for the disaster. They are looking into aspects like how many minutes the disaster lasted, how long the trees blew into air and at what distance, how many trees were uprooted and the types of trees.

The officials are in a dilemma about the wildlife which lived freely in the dense forest region. There was no trace of death of any wild animal when the tsunami like incident took place in the forest.

Meanwhile, the report submitted by the principal chief conservator of forest R. M. Dobriyal said ecause of the cloud bust along with strong bales which blew at a speed of 100 to 120 kilometers per hour, trees were uprooted, but what kind of environmental factors prevailed in the region can be known only after the detailed study done by the officials of the national remote sensor and meteorological departments is completed.

Even though the patch of land where the disaster took place in the forest is fertile, there are no stones or any kinds of hard objects underneath the ground. There is a need to conduct soil tests in the forest region.

Forest officials under the supervision of DFO Rahul Kishan Jadhav are monitoring to prevent local people from entering into the forests.