Four young men are in a car, heading for the Sattadhar temple. Not far from them is another bunch of seven pilgrims who have decided to walk all the way to Kankai temple. At first glance it is not easy to gauge how each of these groups poses a deadly threat to the Asiatic Lion in the Gir National Park and Sanctuary.The young men in the car are travelling on the Sasan-Sattadhar highway that passes through the sanctuary. Against forest department rules, they stop their car and get out of their vehicle in the middle of the forest. One of them loiters with binoculars slung around his neck. Two of them start smoking. They leave the area with cigarette butts still burning.Meanwhile, on the Kankai temple road, the pilgrims are resting. One has started a small fire for the evening tea. The seven had taken a vow to walk from Wadhwan, 200 km away. They have been cooking along the way, even inside the protected area. As they leave, the fire is still smouldering.It was careless visitors like these who caused a major fire on Sunday near the Kankai temple inside the Gir National Park. In two months, the sanctuary has suffered three major fires and a dozen minor ones.What alarmed forest officials about Sunday’s fire was that it occurred deep inside the National Park. The place was inaccessible to vehicles and more than 200 forest personnel had to go by foot to fight the fire, said Sasan Gir’s deputy forest officer P P Raval. ‘‘The incidents are increasing as the number of pilgrims grows every year. They throw cigarette and beedi butts which cause fires. Only the major fires usually come to our notice as the forest guards take care of the smaller ones,’’ he said.On Sunday, they got lucky but a bigger threat looms as summer approaches. Gir, a dry deciduous forest, is already turning brown. ‘‘One match stick and it will explode into a raging fire,’’ says Raval.Deputy Conservator of Forests, Junagadh, Bharat Pathak, says with increasing incidents the forest department is having a tough time. ‘‘The distances are such that it takes at least two to three hours for forest officials to reach the spot.If it happens to be a windy day, God save us,’’ he adds.The effects are already being felt:• The rule about not leaving vehicles or smoking is routinely flouted. Four roads, with hundreds of vehicles, pass through the area• Spotted deer and peacocks have been run over. Pathak would like to see at least two roads closed to traffic • ‘‘Lions, which are more sensitive, are moving away from the disturbed areas close to roads and temples,’’ says DFO Raval. This has resulted in another problem. Free from the threat of predators, their traditional prey ike deer and nilgai are now destroying crops in settlement villages.
