MADURAI: Wildfire in the forest areas of Upper Hills of Kodaikanal continues to rage and firefighting efforts have been intensified on Wednesday. It is eighth day in a row, that forest areas in Poomparai, Mannavanur, and Kookal were caught in wildfire. As a result, the Forest Department restricted tourists from accessing these places of upper hills citing safety concerns.

The raging fire has affected almost 2,000 acres and several rare wood species have been destroyed, sources said. Dindigul Collector MN Poongodi, Director General of Police, Fire and Rescue Services Abash Kumar, and Joint Director, Fire and Rescue Services Station of Western Region, P Saravanakumar inspected the area.

According to Dindigul District Fire Officer K Ganesan, as many as 125 fire brigades from Dindigul, Periyakulam of Theni district, Vadipatti of Madurai, Vaiyampatti of Tiruchy, Erode, Coimbatore and Tirupur were being engaged in extinguishing the fire.