By P. Sudhakar A forest fire spreading in the Western Ghats at Mekkarai on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border. - Photo: A. Shaikmohideen Tirunelveli March 4. A devastating fire broke out in the Western Ghats, barely a kilometer away from the newly-built Adavi Nainar dam at Mekkarai near the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border today, endangering the fauna and flora in a few square kilometres. Though the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, the forest department sources said the shepherds or the hunters could have triggered the mishap. However, the incident has spread shock waves among the officials as the dam is to be inaugurated by the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, when she visits the district on March 13. According to the people of Mekkarai, the fire was first sighted at the foothills this morning and it spread rapidly towards the elevated parts, as the topography of the accident site very much resembles a pass. As the velocity of the wind is normally high in the pass and its surroundings, the spreading of the fire was catalysed by the wind with a considerable speed that swiftly engulfed the partly dried-up grass land, especially the lemon grass. A top official from the forest department lamented that the forest managers could not take precautionary measures, including creation of fire-lines in the reserve forest areas, due to poor allocation of funds for the past few years. ``We can't hire the manpower during the fire accidents as we don't have surplus funds for fire fighting. Consequently, we witnessed two major mishaps in the Western Ghats one at the Muththalaaru area in the Kalakkad forests and the other in the reserve forest areas beyond Kadayam near Courtallam in the past seven months due to paucity of funds. Even now, we are helpless,'' he said. As the entire Western Ghats failed to get adequate rains during the last southwest monsoon, the lemon grass, which is abundantly available invariably in all areas of this mountain range, is almost dry now. With the summer approaching, if something untoward happened, the damage caused by the fire to the fauna and flora would be huge, said another official.ΓΏ