Collapse of thousands of trees in Eturunagaram wildlife sanctuary puzzles officials

Anecdotal evidence suggests a tornado caused massive tree uprooting in Eturunagaram Wildlife Sanctuary, under investigation by officials.

Anecdotal evidence of a wind spiral strengthens the assumption that a tornado was behind the devastation that occurred in the Eturunagaram Wildlife Sanctuary on September 1. Forest officials who went on an inspection of the area where thousands of trees were uprooted overnight, were told by the residents of the villages nearby that a sudigaali (tornado) dark in appearance was witnessed rising in the forest on the day.

However, foresters have not yet confirmed the occurrence of a tornado. Instead, they said the matter was referred to the Meteorological Department and National Remote Sensing Centre for further analysis. As per the ‘sample plot analysis’, it has been surmised that approximately 50,000 trees were uprooted in 200 hectares of deep forest area along 2 km to 3 km length, which contains 50-60 major forest species. Many more trees were top broken and damaged, officials informed.

The exact number of trees fallen or broken will be known only after completion of enumeration. A total 150 forest department staff have been mobilised to carry out the enumeration, which has been hampered by continuous rain, informed the District Forest Officer of Mulugu, Rajul Jadhav. The phenomenon was first reported by base camp watchers who heard a boom and cracking sounds from the deep forest on the rainy morning of September 1. However, they could not venture out due to the downpour and high-speed wind. The destruction came to light when the Forest Divisional Officer visited the location the next day.

Mr. Jadhav vouches that concentrated uprooting of tall forest trees at this scale has never been heard of due to natural causes. Front formation between two air masses, warm and humid, typical of temperate climates, could be the reason for the build-up of pressure and speed of the wind, he says.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force R.M. Dobriyal who inspected the location on Wednesday attributed the high number of tree falls partly to the soil’s nature. “Close to the banks of the Godavari River, it is very good alluvial soil, due to which the trees had only sub-surface horizontal root system. The root system did not provide very strong anchoring, due to which the high-pressure wind could topple them,” he said.