Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday ordered for engaging Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) teams to control forest fires across Odisha.
Earlier in the day, the Odisha government had formed a nine-member task force led by former PCCF Sandip Tripathy to review the ongoing forest fire, its causes and recommend immediate containment measures.
Informing this, Tripathy said that forest fire has not spread to the core area of Similipal biosphere reserve. “The flames are restricted to the outer parts of the Similipal Tiger project. Animals in core area are safe,” he added.
The fire has so far devoured eight of 21 ranges of the Similipal forest division. The government has long been claiming that no animals have been harmed in the fires.
The sudden onset of summer from February provided fuel to the wildfire, which Similipal frequently witnesses during dry weather conditions. The fire has been raging for the past couple of weeks.
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