Rajasthan: Massive fire breaks out in Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve in Kota, none hurt

Kota (Raj), Apr 2: A massive fire broke out on Tuesday in an enclosure of the Mukundra Hill Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan's Kota district, officials said. No casualty was reported in the incident, they said.

Six fire tenders were rushed to spot to douse the fire spread in around seven to eight kilometer area of the 82 square kilometer enclosure, but the flames were yet to be doused in about 40 per cent area. Notably, two tigers namely MT- 1, MT- 2 are housed inside and tigress MT-3 is outside the enclosure, Singh said, adding all animals were safe.

"The fire spread inside the MHTR enclosure in about 7-8 km of area with the width of about 200 m and joint efforts with the district administration are underway to control the fire," Deputy Conservator of Forests (MHTR) T Mohan said.

He said the authorities were considering to call an aircraft assistance in the operation.

'The fire in about 60 per cent area near Sawan–Bhado dam has been controlled and efforts are underway to control it in the remaining area," Amit Sharma, a fire fighter from Kota Municipal Corporation (KMC) engaged in controlling the fire, said.

In a similar incident, a fire broke out in a wheat field in Baran district. The fire was controlled before it could engulf the wheat crop standing in nearby fields, SHO at Nahargarh police station Dalpat Singh said. The fire has been fully controlled and no loss of life or heavy damage reported so far, he added.

PTI