Two instances of forest fire at Damagundam on the same day

The fire that swept the Damagundam reserve forest in Vikarabad district on November 28, which left large tracts of forest lands burnt, could have been an attempt at sabotage rather than an act of callousness, say sources linking the chain of events on the day.

Over 20 acres of grass and shrubbery lay burnt in the ground fire that erupted multiple times around the same area in the forest, forest department officials informed.

As per the details shared, an alert about the fire was sounded post noon at a location close to Gudupally village on November 28. The fire was first noticed by a plantation watcher and a team of forest staff controlled it using fire blower.

The second alert came at about 6 p.m. on the same day from the forest base camp, at a grassland close to the earlier fire, which too was arrested by the staff.

A video clip in which godman Satyananda Swami who has his ashram in the forest was expressing concern about the fire, started circulating in the social media at about 9 p.m., after which the foresters reached the location along with the Revenue, Police and Naval officers for a third time.

However, as per the forest officials, no fire was found at that time. Earth was found scorched in about 20 acres of forest land at the location where the fire was put out at 6 p.m.

It is difficult to conclusively assert the cause of fire, as most of the ground fires in Telangana are caused by callous wayfarers throwing away lit cigars/cigarettes on the dry grass. Winter months are the time when the grass starts drying up, thus resulting in fires.

However, in this instance, the fire happening twice around the same location is a reason for doubt, sources say.

Damagundam forests are at the centre of a controversy, due to the protests that erupted against the Very Low Frequency radio station being established here by the Indian Navy’s Eastern Command.

When enquired, Chief Conservator of Forests for the Charminar Circle Priyanka Varghese said an investigation is on to ascertain if the fire had an element of sabotage.