JAGTIAL : The Jagtial unit of the Prohibition and Excise department conducted an inquiry into how many palm trees were burnt in fire accidents and submitted a report to district collector Shaik Yasmeen Basha.
On May 19, TNIE had published an article: ‘Tappers seek aid from government, more fire engines as fires destroy palm trees’, highlighting a series of fire accidents at palm tree orchids that had left toddy tappers worried.
Prohibition and Excise officer A Satyanarayana submitted the inquiry report to the collector stating that 7,445 sendhi trees and 105 palm trees were burnt in fire accidents at Desaipet, Bheemaram, Kondagattu, and Jaggasagar under the Jagtial prohibition and excise station, and at Jaggasagar, Ramalachakkapet, and Chinna Metpally under the Metpally station.
Following the collector’s direction, an action plan has been prepared for planting palm saplings during the upcoming rainy season as part of the Haritha Haram programme where trees were burnt in fire accidents.
During summers, the palm trees were burned, often due to farmers setting fire in their fields to prepare for the next crop and to clean paddy stubble, which subsequently spread to the nearby palm trees.
The officer mentioned in the report that the tappers, who belong to poor families, have requested financial assistance.