Tourists inconvenienced by bush fire near St.Clare Falls

By Shantha Chandrasiri   

Hundreds of tourists and residents were inconvenienced yesterday morning due to a major wild fire near St.Clare waterfall in Thalawakelle.     Vast areas of the grass and vegetation near the waterfall had been destroyed owing to the fire. St.Clare Falls is a major tourist attraction in the hill country.   
Residents of the area who depend on the income from tourism said the forest reserve had been set on fire by unscrupulous arsonists regardless of its environmental damage to the waterfall.    They said setting fire to the highly sensitive environmental zones rich in bio-diversity in the central hills during dry weather has been going on unchecked.   However, environmentalists pointed out that the villagers are in the habit of setting fire to the forests for pleasure, to flush wild animals, to collect firewood and to create grass land to graze their cattle.   
 They stressed the need to work out an effective mechanism, which is the responsibility of he relevant authorities, to arrest the individuals who set fire to the forests.