Major forest fire on Lower Palani hills

Hundreds of different types of trees destroyed
A forest fire that raged on Tuesday night destroyed hundreds of different types of trees, mostly rare and endangered species and medicinal plants, in the reserve forests on the Lower Palani Hills, damaging bio-diversity and wiping out the livelihood of many tribal communities.

The fire destroyed trees at the ninth hairpin bend on the Palani-Kodaikanal ghat road near Saverikadu. It quickly spread to other parts of the forests reducing trees, plants and herbs spread over many acres to ash. Smoke and flames filled the hill tracks. Wildlife perished, according to Santhanam Krishnan, a farmer, who brought vegetables to Palani market from Vada Kavunji in Kodaikanal in a van. Many other heavy vehicle drivers and tourist cab operators from Kodaikanal also struggled to cross this stretch. They returned to Saverikadu as dense smoke affected visibility.

Forest officials drew the ire of tribal people and corporation bus drivers waiting at the affected site. When one of the drivers informed Palani forest officials about the fire, they reportedly said that the area under fire was not under their control and asked him to contact the Kodaikanal forest office. In turn, Kodaikanal officials advised him to convey the message to the Udumalpet forest office, who said that the area was under the control of a sanctuary. No forest officials came to the spot, said Kannan of Kombaikadu, a nearby village.

The blaze reportedly subsided on its own.

Forest department calls for removal of exotic trees in Kodai

By Padmini Sivarajah, TNN | Jan 22, 2013

MADURAI: The Kodaikanal district forest officer (DFO) has sent a proposal to the Central government seeking permission to eradicate the exotic foreign plants such as the wattle and pine, which were endangering the ecosystem of the hills. The proposal has been a long-pending demand of the eco-conscious citizens of the hill station.

Speaking to this newspaper D Venketesh, district forest officer, Kodaikanal said man-animal conflicts, especially those between the Indian gaur and people were on rise in the region. "We get regular calls from the people complaining about the gaurs' entry in farms, school premises, market place and others. Even on Monday, this was the grievance expressed to the state government's petition committee that visited Kodaikanal by the farmers and people.

The people sought the erection of solar fences and digging of elephant trenches in various many places to prevent animals from entering their farms. These animals were destroying banana and pear orchards in large numbers.

But the DFO said this won't solve the problem. "The real problem lays in the fact is that the exotic plant species, such as wattle or acacia and pine, have invaded the shola grasslands and the animals have nowhere to look for food and started entering the private properties," he said. "I don't know why felling of these trees in the region is banned, which has resulted in the trees' invasion of about 5,000 hectares of grasslands in the upper Palani hills," he added.

"The gaur population is ever increasing. It is our duty to restore their habitat to them," he said. Venketesh is confident that the government would give a favourable answer to his proposal. Wattle and pine have also resulted in the 90% swamp area, which is the major water source for the entire Kodaikanal region and also to animals shrinking. This is a major cause of concern for the future of this fragile eco-system.

Eradicating these trees is not an easy task because the seeds spread far and can stay dormant in the soil. But the forest department has removed them to a stretch of about 10 metres on the Kodaikanal - Berijam Road and has been successful in the attempt. He said the eradication programme once approved, would take about 15 years, but it would be a beginning.

Conflicts between man and gaurs have become regular phenomenon. On Saturday, a man was attacked by an animal at Vandaravu. Chasing away these animals is not an easy task because they intimidate the people by their sheer size.

Till 1995, the trees, which are now estimated to cover about 27,000 hectares did not pose a threat because they were regularly felled for manufacturing rayon. But the ban on felling was introduced and the trees began disturbingdestroying the eco-system both space land and the ground water.

One person who is happy about the DFO's proposal, is Rajesh Mani of the Centre for Environmental Studies and Conservation said, "We took out a protest march on December 23 demanding the removal of the exotic trees from the region and also sent petitions to the DFO. We are happy with the proposal."

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Forest-department-calls-for-removal-of-exotic-trees-in-Kodai/articleshow/18125412.cms