A Hot Mess
Forest fires rage as high temperatures and drought conditions prevail
Chembra Peak, a popular, pictureperfect nature trail in Wayanad district, looks like the devastated aftermath of a bomb attack. On February 25, a raging forest fire reduced 100 hectares of grassland and nearly half the verdant forest to ashes. And the bad news is that this was just one of hundreds of forest fires, triggered by severe drought conditions, a crisis that now threatens the state’s rich biodiversity.
It’s only March and forests minister K. Raju says 440 fires have already destroyed some 2,100 hectares of forests this year. “The situation is very serious,” the minister said on March 3 in Thiruvananthapuram. The state had even sought helicopters from the defence ministry to help fight the fires in Parambikulam national park, a designated tiger reserve. But they came after the inferno had already raged for a day. “Some 75 hectares of forest area was destroyed by then,” the minister says.
Struggling to contain the situation, principal chief conservator of forests K.J. Varghese says they have sought community participation to prevent the fires from spreading to tribal villages fringing the national parks. He says reserve forests like Parambikulam haven’t witnessed fires such as these in over a decade. Drought, exacerbated by the delayed summer rains, have turned the hitherto luxuriant forests into a virtual tinderbox. Foresters have now identified fire-prone areas in Wayanad, Idukki, Palakkad, Ernakulam and Pathanamthitta districts. With temperatures soaring, it looks like the rain gods are the only hope left for the state.