Anandapur/G.Udayagiri: There have been reports of a forest fire in the Hadgarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Keonjhar district of Odisha on Monday. The fire has been reported from nine points of the Hadgarh Elephant Sanctuary.
Special teams of forest department and fire department have been appointed to extinguish the fire. Forest animals are now in danger due to the effects of extreme heat and fire. However, the forest officer said that the fire will be brought under control at the earliest.
At present, the fire is spreading everywhere due to the burning of dry leaves. So the people living inside the sanctuary have been requested not to start a fire. There are nine beat houses under the Hadgarh range and the staff are on guard at each place to prevent further spread of fire.
Further it is worth mentioning that, as many as seven ODRAF teams have been sent to seven vulnerable forest divisions of the Odisha for forest fire response duty in order to prevent loss of life and properties owing to forest fire.
The deputed ODRAF teams have been directed to carry all the equipment required for forest fire response along with the PPE kit such as Gum Boot, Helmet, Gloves etc. The team shall return back to their respective units soon after the said duty is over.