Trekkers blamed for Tamil Nadu forest fire tragedy

A week after a forest fire killed 17 in the state, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, on Monday, blamed the trekkers for the tragedy alleging that only one of the two groups had got the forest official's permission.

Replying to a call attention motion in the Assembly, Palaniswami said that the 12-member trekking group from Erode and Tirupur districts took the permission from the forest department officials on March 10 paying a fee of Rs 200 per head. However, the 27 members of the Chennai Trekking club entered the forest without a permit, he alleged.

Palaniswami said that instead of taking the approved 11.4 km trail from Kurangani to Top Station, the trekkers from the groups had taken an unauthorised trekking route to Kolukkumalai via Kottakudi and they had camped at a tea estate in the hill on March 10. "Both the groups did not have any permission to trek on March 11 from Kolukkumalai to Kurangani. When they were returning, they were caught unaware in the forest fire," he said, noting that there was no forest fire when they were trekking uphill on March 10. "As per the Forest Survey of India, the last fire reported on the Kottakudi forest was on February 15 which was doused by the forest officials," he said.

He said that the fire spread fast because of lemon grass that has oil content. He added that 10 trekkers, who were caught in the forest fire, had been rescued without any injuries and 17 had sustained burn injuries, adding that Ranjithkumar, a local guide who accompanied the 12 member trekker group, was arrested for taking them into the unauthorised trail.