The officials of India Air Force had said that four helicopters of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and 100 army personnel will swing into action from today to douse the fire raging in Seshachalam forests for three days.
A navy helicopter has already reached Renignuta airport near here and surveyed the fire, which is about 3km from the famous Balaji temple atop Tirumala Hills.
Four IAF helicopters will reach Renigunta to join the operation at Seshachalam. Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan, who is monitoring the situation, said C130 aircraft, which have expertise in chemical spraying to put off fire, will be pressed into service.
Notify that the fire had already destroyed over 5000 hectares of forest and about 100 army personnel will join hundreds of civilian authorities battling the fire. Some navy personnel from Nellore district have already reached Tirumala.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary PK Mohanty said the director general of forests and the director general of fire services will also be rushing to Tirumala from Delhi on Thursday.
Mohanty spoke to the union cabinet secretary and secretaries of defence and forest and environment to brief them of the situation and seek help from the centre.
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) has closed both the pedestrian pathways leading to Tirumala Hills as a precautionary measure. It has mobilized more than 1,000 personnel from forests, fire services, police and other departments to control the fire.
Notify that TTD manages the affairs of the temple.
The authorities however reportedly failed to take timely action, which resulted in the fire spreading to a vast area.
Notify that a small fire was first spotted in the forest range a week ago. The forest department allegedly did not act on the alerts from the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US.
Bureau Report
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