Baripada/Bhubaneswar: The Forest Department on Wednesday sprang into action to douse the raging forest fire in Similipal National Park in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district.
Deputy Director of the Similipal Park Jagyandatta Pati told the media that about 800 forest staff and 250 forest guards are engaged to douse the flames. To bring the blaze under control, 40 fire tenders and 240 blower machines have been pressed into service.
Also Read: [Watch] Attention World! Odisha’s Princess Airs SOS For Forest Fire In Similipal
Briefing mediapersons earlier in the day, Forest and Environment Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha said that he has asked the PCCF (Wildlife) Sashi Paul to visit the park for an on-the-spot investigation and submit a report by Thursday.
As per the data furnished by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), a total of 593 forest fires occurred in the country on Tuesday (March 2, 2021) of which 228 forest fires (39%) had taken place in Odisha.
Also Read: 5291 Forest Fires In A Week ‘Choke’ Odisha Wildlife; The Highest In The Country
