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.
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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.
