Major grass fire in Odisha’s Chilika lake, rain comes to rescue

A major fire broke out in dried grass at the edge of Chilika, Asia’s largest brackish water lake, in Odisha on Friday, the police said.

The fire originated in the patches of ‘Nala’ grass, which is full of mud, making it difficult for firefighters to reach. The blaze was extinguished by rain after a few hours, a forest department official said.

As the fire spread along the edge of the lake, the area was filled with smoke.

“Some miscreants might have set afire the Nala grass which dries in the summer,” said Amlan Nayak, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Chilika Wildlife Division. Forest department personnel faced difficulties to go near the spot as the water level in the lake drastically fell due to the summer season, covering the area with mud.

“Our staff tried their best to douse the fire but it was virtually inaccessible. Finally, rain helped us extinguish the blaze,” Nayak said.

The department will investigate how the fire broke out, he said

Another forest official said local boatmen sometimes set fire to ‘Nala’ grasses to clean the area for smooth ride of their boats in the water bodies.

Wildlife activists feared several nests and chicks of the residential birds and fishing cats in the Chilika might have perished in the fire.

Allaying the fear, the Nayak said the fishing cats and birds must have moved to safer places after seeing the fire.

Migratory birds, which had flown to the lake during the last winter, have already left the lagoon by the unset of the summer.