Palitana: A massive fire that broke-out last Saturday at the hilly areas of Palitana was brought under control after around 17 hours by combined efforts of administration and local residents.

It is estimated by the government sources that the massive fire had spread across more than 350 hectares of land including 150 hectares land of forest and 200 hectares of revenue.

More than 100 workers, Officers and jawans from the Forest Department  and over 300 local village residents including those from Adpar and Gandhol villages jointly worked to control the fire. The fire was finally brought under control in the early morning at around 4 AM.

The fire had started from Kajrada hills, which is 15 kms from Shetrunjay hill at Palitana in the afternoon on Saturday and further spread to Bhandva and Adpar hills. The fire was so massive that it was difficult to control in a short duration.

Wet sacks were used in large numbers to stop fire from spreading further. The fire didn’t cause major harm to the wildlife as informed by sources from the forest department.