Major towns and some villages in the Nyingchi Prefecture in the eastern part of Tibet were shrouded by heavy smoke Tuesday, and residents in the regional capital of Lhasa also felt choked by smoke Wednesday morning.

The Tibet Meteorological Department told Xinhua Wednesday it has monitored forest fires in China's border areas with India.

"Satellite remote-sensing images show high heat in the border region," the weather service department said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 18, 2009)