mangaluru although the coronavirus pandemic has seen much of the world grind to a halt several environmentalists forest officials and nature enthusiasts see an unexpected silver lining to it while reduced human activity on account of lockdown has helped animals move freely in western ghats it also has indirectly reduced the instances of forest fire they claimthe scorching summer heat usually comes with a scourge of forest fire however this time around even as the mercury levels in western ghat touched 40 c no major instances of fire were reported in forest areas of dakshina kannada district officials and greens attribute it to reduced human activities in western ghats due to covid19 lockdownspeaking to toi deputy conservator of forest v karikalan said usually forest fire instances are reported in march and april however this year we have not received reports of forest fire in our division it may be because of the lockdown there is no vehicle movement and pilgrims are also not able to visit prominent temples in the western ghats regions of dakshina kannada most of the forest fire instances are caused by travellers who carelessly throw away lighted cigarettes he saidcovid19 lockdown has come as a blessing in disguise for flora and fauna in the western ghats he added forest officials have been witnessing movement of animals especially deer and elephants on the roads abutting western ghats he said our officials have noticed large number of deer elephants bison and other wild animals walking on roads at subrahmanya and surrounding areas normally don not venture out much as vehicles ply on the roads regularly but now they have the freedom he addedenvironmentalists say it is indeed a blessing in disguise that the region has not witnessed any major forest fire instances after the lockdown sahyadri sanchaya convener dinesh holla said a significant reason for forest fire is increased human activities inside the western ghats region we have been witnessing forest fire all these years in fact last year forest fires were reported at malemanebetta dodderibetta baloorugudda and several other places in charmady and shirady areas however this year there were no such instances making it evident that human activities inside the forest is the major reason for all forest fire instances now no one goes for hunting trekking and for other activities there holla said