Puri: Casuarina plantation on several acres was destroyed in a major fire that swept through Beladala forest along the Puri-Konark Marine Drive on Wednesday evening.
The area falls under the Balukhand Forest Range.
The blaze has been brought under control by forest officials and firefighters helped by locals, according to latest reports. Three fire tenders and eight tractors were pressed into fire-fighting operations.
The cause of the fire is under probe. Forest officials suspect that the blaze might have spread from dry leaves that caught fire from a burning bidi butt thrown by someone.
