Bangalore : Forest Minister Ramanath Rai on Monday said a CID inquiry will be conducted into the incidents of forest fires that happened over the past one year at Nagarhole and Bandipur.

Responding to the questions which were raised by the MLAs, while discussing issues pertaining to the Forest Department, Rai said: “After certain MLAs raised concerns that the forest fires may have been deliberately caused by certain organisations, we have resolved to hand over the case to CID.”

At the other end, on the government’s response to the Kasturirangan Committee report on Western Ghats, Rai said the government has brought down the extent of conservation of Western Ghats from 20,000 sq kms to 13,000 sq kms.

“While Kerala has brought down the area covered under Western Ghats conservation from 13,000 sq kms to 9,000 sq kms, we have done better,” the minister said.

It has also been resolved to not allow red industries to function in the conservation area. The Centre has given us two months to send our recommendations, and we are finalising them, said the minister.

He said that an independent survey is also being commissioned to find out how much of sapling plantation drives, or afforestation activities, have made a difference.

Rai said that the survey will show how many trees, and what kind of trees have been planted in the State.

The minister also said that the department will purchase 176 rifles for the guards who will be on duty protecting the forest area of the State.

He said that the government has already submitted a proposal to increase the compensation to those who have suffered losses due to man-animal conflict.