History · Remembrance · 13 min read

Fire on the Kurangani Hills: The Tragedy of 11 March 2018, and the Land Around It

Kurangani is a small village at the foot of the hills below Top Station and Kolukkumalai, on an old path between Tamil Nadu and Munnar. On 11 March 2018, a fire swept across the grassy slopes above it and trapped a group of young trekkers. An account of what happened, why, and what changed, and of the history of the hills where it happened.

By GK Global, Adimali, Munnar · Trails & Tales by GK

From Top Station, on the edge of the Kerala high ranges, the land drops away almost vertically to the east. Far below, among coconut groves, mango orchards and coffee and cardamom estates, lies the small village of Kurangani, in the Bodinayakanur hills of Tamil Nadu's Theni district. Between the village and the ridges of Top Station and Kolukkumalai rise steep slopes of grass and scrub, cut by forested ravines.

For generations, footpaths have climbed these slopes, linking the plains with the hills. In the 2010s, the trail between Kurangani and Kolukkumalai became a favourite of city trekkers. On 11 March 2018, it became the scene of one of the worst trekking disasters in India's history.

Kurangani: the place

The name Kurangani is often explained in Tamil as "the place that wears monkeys as its jewels", from the many monkeys of the forest. The central village is small, with a few hundred residents, surrounded by estates growing coconuts, mangoes, spices and coffee. A mountain stream flows between the Kurangani hills and Kolukkumalai; several streams join to form the Kottakudi river, which flows into the Vaigai, the river of Madurai. The forests and grasslands above the village are home to gaur, barking deer, langurs, leopards and other wildlife. The village and its surroundings have appeared in Tamil films such as Mynaa and Kumki.

An old link between the hills and the plains

The slopes above Kurangani have long been a route between the plains of Tamil Nadu and the high ranges of Munnar. Before modern roads, people, goods and cattle moved up and down the escarpment on foot along steep paths. Workers on the Kolukkumalai tea estate carried chests of tea down a bridle path to Bodinayakanur.

In the early twentieth century, the Kanan Devan Hills Produce Company built a remarkable transport system to carry Munnar's tea out to the east. A road and tramway ran down the Kundala valley from Munnar to Top Station, and from there an aerial ropeway carried tea down the escarpment, dropping about 1,200 m to Bottom Station near Kottagudi, from where it travelled on to the ports. The footpath from Top Station to Bottom Station still follows the line of the old ropeway. (Read the story in our history of Munnar.)

During the Second World War, when the Japanese bombed Madras in 1942, the British improved a road from Kodaikanal to Top Station as a possible evacuation route, known as the "Escape Road". It was used as a road until about 1990, and is now overgrown in places.

A road from the Tamil Nadu side up through Kurangani to Top Station has been proposed for decades; a foundation was laid in 1989, but it was never built. Today, Top Station can be reached by road only from Munnar.

The trek

On 10 March 2018, two groups set out for a weekend trek in the Kurangani hills: 27 people from Chennai, organised through the volunteer-run Chennai Trekking Club, and 12 from Erode and Tiruppur. Three of the Chennai group went to Kerala instead, leaving 36 on the trek. Most were young professionals and students, and many were women. They camped on the hills overnight, near Kolukkumalai, and on the morning of 11 March began the descent towards Kurangani.

The fire

March is the height of the dry season in these hills. The grass on the slopes was tinder-dry, and fires had been burning in the area for days. Experts believe the fire was man-made, possibly started by people burning grass or clearing land. On 11 March, strong winds drove the fire rapidly up the steep slopes.

Satellite sensors detected an abnormal rise in temperature in the Kurangani forest beats at around 1 pm, and the Forest Survey of India sent fire alerts to district forest officers within the hour. But the alerts did not reach staff on the ground in time, and no warning reached the trekkers. In the early afternoon, as the groups descended through the grasslands, they were overtaken by the fire near a lone tree on the slope. Fire on a grassy hillside moves uphill very fast, faster than a person can run, and the smoke made it almost impossible to see. Many were trapped.

Villagers from Kurangani, forest staff, police and fire personnel climbed the hills to help, carrying the injured down the slopes on improvised stretchers. Helicopters joined the rescue. The injured were taken to hospitals in Theni, Madurai and Coimbatore.

Survivors spoke of extraordinary courage. Some trekkers went back into the fire again and again to help others; one young woman helped a fellow trekker to the rescue helicopter and then ran back for another, and did not survive. Many of those who died were experienced trekkers who had led others safely on many treks.

The death toll rose over the following weeks as the badly burned died in hospital, eventually reaching 23.

The inquiry

The Tamil Nadu government appointed a senior official, Atulya Misra, Secretary for Revenue and Disaster Management, to inquire into the disaster. His report, submitted in July 2018, found that:

• the Tamil Nadu Forest Department was ill-equipped to deal with forest fires and other disasters, and range and district forest officers had failed to monitor the area properly;
• surveillance of the forest had serious gaps, and many field posts were vacant;
• the groups were led into the forest by an agent rather than the trek organiser, and were not equipped or trained to deal with an emergency; and
• there was no system to regulate organisations offering trekking, camping and adventure activities.

The report recommended properly identified trekking routes, trained guides, regulation of eco-tourism, training of forest staff in fire surveillance, and action against officials who had failed in their duty. The disaster also prompted debate about the responsibilities of trekking groups, organisers and trekkers themselves.

What changed

Within days of the fire, Kerala and Karnataka temporarily suspended treks in their forests. In October 2018, Tamil Nadu introduced a new trekking policy:

• only organisations registered with the forest department may conduct treks;
• routes are classified as easy, moderate or tough, with fees for each;
• guides are compulsory, and tough treks must be accompanied by forest department staff;
• groups must obtain prior permission; and
• trekking is banned in the peak fire season, from mid-February to mid-April.

Most trekking in the Kurangani area remained closed for years. In 2024, Tamil Nadu began reopening selected routes through an online trekking system run by the state's Wilderness Experience Corporation, with registration, carrying capacity limits and trained local guides. Trekkers should check the current status of any route with the Tamil Nadu and Kerala forest departments before setting out.

Why grassland fires are so dangerous

The high grasslands of the Western Ghats, around Kurangani, Kolukkumalai, Meesapulimala and Eravikulam, burn easily in the dry months from about February to May. Dry grass ignites quickly; fire on a slope races uphill, preheating the grass ahead of it; wind can drive it in unpredictable directions; and smoke can make escape routes invisible. Most fires in these hills are started by people, whether accidentally, from cigarettes and campfires, or deliberately, to clear land or encourage fresh grass. Forest departments manage the risk through fire lines, controlled burning and watchers, but the safest course for walkers is to stay off the grasslands in the fire season. (Read our guide to trekking and hiking in Munnar and Idukki.)

Remembering

The young people who died on the Kurangani hills had gone to the mountains for the same reasons that draw so many of us there: for the beauty of the grasslands and the sky, for friendship and for adventure. Their families and friends still mourn them. Their deaths led to changes that have made trekking in South India safer, and their memory is a reminder that the mountains must be approached with knowledge, preparation and respect.