Fire breakout at forest area in B'luru

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: A massive fire broke out in the forest area of Srigandhakaval near Sumanahalli bridge in the city burning several trees in the premises on Saturday night.

The incident took place around 9:45 pm and was noticed after the fire had spread to almost half of the three-acre forest area belonging to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

The fire officials said that the fire spread quickly as a result of intense heat. It is suspected that the fire was set to dry garbage and spread to the forest area.

Responding to the alert, the fire department had deployed five fire tenders to the spot. It was learnt that the Forest Department was using the area to dump timber that was cleared from around the city and auctioned.

All the timber, whichever was not auctioned, was stored in the forest area. Officials also suspected that some miscreants may have set fire to the dry wooden pieces which spread over the area.

The firefighting personnel worked continuously for nine hours and managed to douse the fire. The Kamakshipalya police and BBMP personnel visited the place and inspected the damage.

A case has also been registered at the jurisdictional police station.