Narrow escape for Odisha IPS officers as 3 Satkosia eco retreat tents catch fire

Transport commissioner Sanjeeb Panda and his IPS officer wife Santosh Bala (Home department special secretary), were in one of the three tents that caught fire.

Published on: Feb 28, 2021, 13:05:10 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty, Bhubaneswar

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Two senior IPS officers had a narrow escape as the temporary canvas cottages they were staying in at Satkosia eco retreat camp near Baliput in Odisha’s Cuttack district were gutted following a major fire early Sunday morning.

IPS officer Sanjeeb Panda tweeted about the fire this morning. (Courtesy- Twitter)

The Satkosia Eco Retreat camps were started by Odisha tourism department on the banks of Mahanadi river at Baliput in Narasinghpur under Athagarh sub-division in the Cuttack district on December 29 last year to give an impetus to tourism in the aftermath of Covid-19. The camps were inaugurated by Union tourism minister Prahallad Singh Patel via video conferencing. Apart from Satkosia, a festival was also organised at Ramchandi beach in Konark, Bhitarkanika, Daringbadi and Hirakud.

Transport commissioner Sanjeeb Panda and his IPS officer wife Santosh Bala (Home department special secretary), were in one of the three tents at the Eco-Retreat site that caught fire. Panda tweeted that the fire started at 5am and added that he and his wife were safe. Three cottages were gutted.

“By the grace of God, me and Santosh escaped without any injury as fire broke out in our tent at Satkosia Eco Retreat at about 5am on 28.2.2021 due to an electrical short circuit. Three tents were burnt and there was no injury to anyone,” Panda tweeted, attaching a video clip of the fire.

Fire services personnel and the police rushed to the spot and doused the flames. However, the three cottages were completely gutted by the time.

While the exact cause of the blaze is yet to be ascertained, it is suspected that the fire was triggered by an electric short circuit in the power supply or in the air-conditioners installed in the cottages.

Also Read: Odisha limits precautionary measures for travellers from five high-risk states

The Odisha tourism department confirmed there was no injury or loss of life. "Safety of the tourists is paramount and all steps will be taken to prevent recurrence of such an incident in future," the department informed through a tweet. BJD's Badamba MLA Debi Mishra visited the spot and took stock of the situation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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