Forest staff brace for fire season at MM Hills in Karnataka

The conventional practice of clearing fire lines – creating a bald patch of land along delineated beat boundaries to act as a fire breaker – has been completed

With the imminent rise in temperature in the days leading to summer, authorities at MM Hills in south Karnataka are bracing for forest fires and have taken precautionary measures to prevent or combat an outbreak.

Though the fire season in MM Hills normally begins in January, unseasonal rains till as late as the first week of December ensured that the vegetation has remained green and moist so far. "As a result, the fire season has been postponed by almost 45 days,” said V. Yedukondalu, Deputy Conservator of Forests, MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary.