Odisha: Wildfire Rages Near Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary In Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: Amid growing concerns over the wildfire that devoured large tracts of forest in Similipal biosphere reserve in Mayurbhanj recently, another wildfire has been reported in the Bagharakholo forest near Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary on Tuesday.

As per reports, the fire is spreading fast towards the protected area of Chandaka-Dampara Wildlife Sanctuary on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.

Experts say the fire could spread to the protected forest range of the wildlife sanctuary if not controlled on time.

from the local administrations, forest department or the fire brigade have still to reached the spot, reports said.

It is suspected that the fire could have been set by poachers to hunt wild animals in daylight.

However, the reason behind the wildfire is yet to be know.

It's been noticed that in the past few weeks forests in Odisha are going under the claw of miscreants who set the woods on fire for their own benefits.

The Odisha government has constituted a task force comprising 8 ODRAF teams of 25 members each along with Fire officials who have been engaged to carry out investigation into the increasing incidents of wildfire in the State.

Chief of the taskforce, Sandeep Tripathy on Saturday said that as per the Forest Survey of India (FSI) alert information, there were no ongoing continuous fire at any point in the State.

“The number of proactive steps taken by the State Government to check and control forest fire in the State has led to total control over the forest fire situation in State,” Tripathi added.