India News | Wildfire Recurs in Kerala's Kambamala Forests, Forest Dept Suspects Foul Play

Wayanad (Kerala), Feb 18 (PTI) A day after a wildfire destroyed part of the grassland in the Kambamala forests in this hilly district, the fire recurred in the same hills near Mananthavady on Tuesday.

This has led the Forest Department to suspect that it was not a "natural occurrence".

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Forest officials said nearly 10 hectares of grassland in the inner forest were destroyed by fire on Monday.

The fire was brought under control by Forest and Fire Department officials after several hours of effort.

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However, on Tuesday flames once again spread from the top of the same hill.

In a video message, North Wayanad Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Martin Lowell expressed suspicion over the incident, stating that the fire did not appear to be natural.

He suggested that someone might have deliberately set the fire, as the incidents occurred in grassland areas within the inner forest, where such fires would not typically occur naturally.

"When we examine the situation, we can understand that the fire incidents occurred during the days the area was facing a tiger issue. This is suspected to have been done intentionally to set the forest on fire," the officer said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)