According to the farmers, the first fire broke out around April 14, while a larger blaze gutted 15 acres last week. (Credits: Pexels/ Representational) The district administration and the local MLA in Mahabubabad, Telangana, find themselves in a piquant situation after five farmers lost their ready-to-harvest maize crop across 15 acres to a fire that they blame on high-tension overhead wires. The farmers from Thallapoosapalli village in Kesamudram mandal alleged that sparks from overhead high-tension power lines passing through their fields triggered the blaze, destroying crops worth lakhs. They claimed a short circuit caused the sparks. However, the Telangana Northern Power Distribution Company Ltd (TGNPDCL) denied the allegations, stating that such sparks do not occur on those lines. “It is extremely rare. A fire may occur if a power line snaps or falls on dry grass or crops, but in this case the power lines did not touch the ground, nor were there any sparks.…