Thiruvananthapuram, March 17: Fires have destroyed more than 50 acres of shola grasslands at Ponmudi early in March this year.
The areas destroyed included grasslands near upper sanatorium at
Ponmudi and those on the hills at Kambimoodu. This is close to the area
originally earmarked for allotment to the Indian Institute of Space
Science and Technology.
The grasslands behind mosque at Munnar have also caught fire. This was
an area where kurinji seeds were sown during the last season. Sprouting
kurinji plants in some parts of the hill were destroyed.
A large extent of grasslands near Ponnambalamedu in the Periyar Tiger Reserve was also damaged in fire early this summer. Nearly 100 forest fires were reported during this summer including those in the Idukki wildlife sanctuary and buffer zone of Silent Valley National Park.