Wildfires rage across Telangana; 164 forest fires reported every day in 2025

Staggering 11,434 forest fires reported from January 1 to March 10 this year as against 14,027 that occurred in an entire year in 2024

Adilabad: In an alarming trend, Telangana is recording an average of above 164 forest fires every day, with human errors and not mere accidents, said to be triggering the shocking number of wildfires even in critical tiger reserves in the State.

According to official data, Telangana registered a staggering 11,434 forest fires from January 1 to March 10 this year. The gravity of the situation is evident when this figure is compared against the 14,027 forest fires that were reported in an entire year in 2024! On an average, the State has witnessed nearly 163.4 forest fires a day in 2025.

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While the Bhadradri circle saw 3,243 wildfires in the last 70-odd days, 2,479 forest fires occurred in the Kawal Tiger Reserve. The Kaleshwaram and Basar circles saw 2,080 and 1,784 fire incidents respectively, while the Amrabad Tiger Reserve experienced 924 forest fires while Rajanna-Sircilla district accounted for 788 incidents and Charminar circle registered 146 forest fires.

Forest officials instantly receive a message on their mobile phones whenever a forest fire occurs. The messages are sent by the Forest Survey of India with the help of photographs and information of location sent by satellites. However, the officials are often unable to immediately extinguish the fires due to lack of sufficient equipment to combat the fires and staff crunch.

The officials attributed the increasing number of forest fires to human errors. They cited smoking of cigarettes and beedis, igniting of fires by those who gather minor forests products and negligence in dousing the fire after trekking in forests to reach temples as the major causes of the forest fires.

Devotees cook food in the forests before visiting the ancient Sri Mallikharjuna Swamy temple at Srisailam. However, they don’t completely put out the fire, leading to forest fires. Similarly, people who collect Mahua flowers, tendu leaves, honey, gum and wild fruits sometimes intentionally set the forest on fire, officials said.