Forest fire at Kailasagiri hills reach near Srikalahasti temple premises in Andhra Pradesh, no casualties reported

Srikalahasti (Andhra Pradesh) [India], April 13 : A massive forest fire erupted at Kailasagiri hill and it reached near the temple Srikalahasti in Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday night.

Local administration and temple authority suspected the involvement of some anti-social elements which triggered the fire.

Temple chairman Anjuru Srinivasulu said, "Fire erupted very close to Srikalahasthishwara Devasthanam Lobhavi (Bhardwaja Theertham) Gosala where hundreds of cows are under shelter. A team of six youngsters also made efforts to douse to the fire but they remained unsuccessful after which the fire department was called in."

Temple authorities informed that fire in the hills is burning randomly since Wednesday afternoon and by night it turned massive and started approaching the temple's premises.

Srikalahasteeshwara Devasthanam Chairman Anjuru Srinivasulu also expressed his helplessness and complaint about the unavailability of staff in the temple. "We will bring the issue to the attention of the MLA and will urge him to necessary steps to solve the problems. We have to identify how the cause behind the incident. For now, no casualties are reported," said Srinivasulu.