Pilgrims's stove could have triggered Tirumala fire: Reports

The huge forest fire that struck fear among pilgrims and managers of the hoary temple of Lord Venkateswara in the forest- covered hilly shrine of Tirumala has been finally doused.

Special helicopters from the Indian Air Force with the help of army jawans succeeded in dropping huge quantities of water (about 5,000 litres per trip) on the key fire zones. The fire-fighting efforts finally bore fruits and the blaze was brought under control by Thursday afternoon. "Thank Balaji, we have succeeded in controlling the huge fire," said Tirumala Tirupati Devastanamulu (TTD) chairman K Bapiraju.

Meanwhile, a group of pilgrims that camped between Papavinasanam and Tunburakona spots on Tirumala forest belt were suspected to have put up a make-shift chullah (stove) with forest wood that triggered the forest fire. The inferno ravaged the huge chunk of forest terrain on the foothills of Tirumala, the abode of Lord Balaji. "The fire had unfortunately the support of indirect winds on the hillocks which helped it spread fast," said TTD officials.

Besides the chullah angle, the police are also probing the hand of red sanders smugglers or any electrical heavy duty wires tripping in the region that could have triggered such a massive fire which raged for nearly 48 hours.

By the time the inferno was tamed, the forest fire was just three kilometres from the temple, said TTD chairman K Bapiraju who visited the spot. He along with TTD officials and priests organised a special prayer for Agri Deva (Fire God) as a token of appeasement.

Even when the blaze was being confronted in the forest, darshan and rituals in the temple continued unabated.

The Tirumala officials also reported a collection of Rs 2.55 cr in hundi and sales.

TTD chairman kanumuri Bapiraju said they plan to build interior approach roads and reservoirs in the forest belt so that such fires could be contained in future efficiently without affecting people or causing any scare .'This fire was the biggest in last 25 years.The four IAF copters carried 5000 litres of waters per trip to arrest the fire ' he said .

TTD forest cover only spread in 6004 acres rest of the huge and massive forest range ( over 20,000 hectares or over 28 sq. kms was administered by the state forest department .Only 460 hectares of TTD forest belt has been charred and the damage is immeasurable rest of the government forest space including the biodiversity space of Sheshachalam .

According to V.Rajagopal, the nature lover and researcher at the Botany university of SV university , the Tirumala hills had floristic wealth of 1500 species of 175 families including the endemic species such as 'anduga'(Boewelia ovelifolia ) and also known for its civet cats , rare variety of bats and owls . ' It also had nearly 3200 species of medicinal plants and rare herbs cataloged by the discovery channel recently ' he sys.

About 100 army men belonging to 25th Rajasthan Battalion from Chennai, 40 naval personnel from Arakonam and Visakha naval base apart from fire fighting experts from Chittoor, Kadapa and Nellore fire range offices are participating in the fire fighting efforts around Tirumala .

TTD executive officer Gopal says that the TTD board is pursuing a proposal to built trenches and water cause ways as buffer zones between the forest and the Tirumala shrine complex to prevent fire threats to pilgrims and the hoary temple . The TTD has already built a metal fencing around 3 kms of the temple for security against terrorist attacks . ' We have to now plan more diligently against the natural attacks like the fire ' says the TTD officials.

In New Delhi, the defence ministry said the IAF used its aircraft including two Mi-17V5 choppers with huge buckets to control the fire in forests near the Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh, Defence Ministry said today.

"Two MI-17 V5 helicopters with 'Bambi buckets' with a capacity of 4,000 litres of water each, reached Renigunta Airport and commenced the task of fire fighting. The helicopters carried out four sorties wherein all forest fires burning near the Temple were extinguished," a Ministry release said.
The IAF had also deployed the An-32 and the C-130J Super Hercules aircraft for carrying out a recce of the area to get a clear picture about the fire in the forest near the temple.