Odisha: Forest fires break out in Similipal Tiger Reserve

The Odisha government has engaged disaster rapid action force personnel to douse the ongoing forest fires that broke out inside the Simlipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Mayurbhanj district, officials said Sunday.Fires were noticed around 31 spots in the STR Sunday, and the officials with adequate firefighting equipment have been engaged to douse the flames, an official said.Forest officials have been spotting the fires for the last few days. Around 13 fires were spotted Saturday, and the number increased to 31 Sunday, the official said. The Similipal Tiger Reserve authorities have engaged staff and firefighting squads in all sensitive locations to attend the fire points. The Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force team has also been sent to the fire spots. There are reports of forest fires in many other forest areas, including the Angul Forest Division in Odisha.
Meanwhile, intense heatwave conditions continue to prevail in Odisha, making normal life miserable. Jharsuguda and Keonjhar recorded 43.6 degrees Celsius, the highest in the state, by this afternoon. Amid the scorching heatwave conditions, the state government has announced summer vacations in all schools in Odisha from the 25th of this month. Apart from this, the state government also announced that the schools will run from 6.30 to 10.30 in the morning from tomorrow until Tuesday. The Indian Meteorological Department has said that severe heatwave conditions are very likely in many pockets of Odisha until the 25th of this month. It has issued an ‘orange warning’ in 18 districts and a ‘yellow warning’ in 7 districts of Odisha for Monday.