Bhubaneswar: Several fishing boats were burnt as a massive fire broke out at Nalabana Bird Sanctuary inside Chilika lake in Odisha’s Khurda district on Saturday.
As per reports, the fire was started in the dry grassland of the sanctuary at around 10 am. The fire spread rapidly and engulfed nearby fishing jetty at Kalupada ghat of the lake by afternoon.
Before the locals could inform the Fire Brigade, the inferno had already destroyed several fishing boats anchored at the jetty along with the nets and other materials. Many migratory birds and wild animals including fishing cats might were suspected to have perished in the fire.
On being informed, Amlan Nayak, DFO, Chilika Wildlife Division along with a team of Forest officials rushed to the spot. After taking stock of the situation, he informed the Fire Brigade.
A team of 18 Fire services personnel were engaged to extinguish the fire. They managed to bring the inferno under control after fighting against it for nearly 4 hours.
The DFO ruled out death of any wild animal in the fire though a large area of the sanctuary was burnt to ashes in Asia’s largest brackish water lake.
