Kozhikode: Fire & Rescue units are having a hard time in Kozhikode's Kakkayam, where fires have been reported in forest areas since Tuesday when a farmer was gored to death by a gaur.
Around 8.30 pm Thursday, a fire broke out at the Kakkayam Dam site, near the Power House. Personnel from the Perambra Fire Station were engaged in dousing it until the time of writing. Since Tuesday evening, fires have been reported at five locations, including three Eco-Tourism centres in Kakkayam.
The first was spotted Tuesday evening at Heart Island, which coincidentally was where the Forest Department drove a gaur into. The gaur had forced most people of Kakkayam to stay indoors since Sunday evening.
Poly Karakkada, president of the Koorachundu grama panchayat, has refused to speculate on the cause of the mysterious fires. “It is for the police to find out the reason behind this,” he told Onmanorama.
The fire at Heart Island, which is near the Thonikadavu Eco-Tourism Centre, went out naturally to the relief of the personnel of the Perambra Fire Station, who couldn't do much as it was dark.
The second fire was spotted around 10.30 am on Wednesday near the Kakkayam Forest Station. As the region was not easily accessible, the Fire & Rescue team had to mop up the flames to reduce the damage. The third fire broke out in the bamboo park that comes under the jurisdiction of the Irrigation Department. Thickets of bamboo were charred and the department has filed a complaint with the Perambra Police.
The next fire broke out again near the Kakkayam Forest station. “This time it was on a hill behind the station and spread till the top,” said Sujathan of the Fire & Rescue Department, who was part of the operation. As all the fires broke out in hilly forest areas, which are restricted to the public, the Fire & Rescue units could not receive support from the villagers.
“On Wednesday, we had to go to Kakkayam again. The rescuers were too tired of the repeated fire incidents, all in forest areas and some in the steep inaccessible hills. We had to walk kilometres as vehicles could not reach there. The team that went to Kakkayam in the morning came back by night. They had to try hard without enough water and food,” Sujathan said.
