India, March 22 -- The fire department has recorded as many as 323 cases of forest fires in Pune since January this year with as many as 141 out of these recorded in February, 128 in March, and 54 in January. During one such incident at Susgaon Hill on March 20, the department had to deploy three vehicles to help the forest department douse the fire and it wasn't before more than three hours that the situation was brought under control.

This year, the city is experiencing above normal temperatures since January. Higher temperatures have resulted in early dryness of the bushes on the hills and inadequate water supply has worsened the situation. Moreover, private land in the hills has been neglected as no one pays attention to removing dry...