Boat carrying Union minister gets stuck in Odisha’s Chilika Lake for 2 hours
BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra and other local party leaders were also stranded on the boat along with the minister, who was travelling from Barkul in Khurda district to Satapada in Puri district by the lake.
A boat carrying Union minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala got stuck in Chilika lake in Odisha for around two hours on Sunday evening.
While earlier it was suspected that the boat might have got stuck in a net laid by fishermen, the minister later clarified that they lost their way in the blue lagoon.
The administration sent another vessel from Satapada, which rescued the minister, who is visiting Odisha to interact with fishermen as part of the 11th phase of the 'Sagar Parikrama' programme.
BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra and other local party leaders were also stranded on the boat along with the minister, who was travelling from Barkul in Khurda district to Satapada in Puri district by the lake.
In the middle of the lake, near the Nalabana bird sanctuary, the motorised boat got stuck for around two hours, a security official deployed in the minister's convoy duty said.
"It got dark and the man steering the boat was new to the route, and we lost our way. It took us two more hours to reach Satapada," the minister told reporters.
Rupala was scheduled to attend a programme near Krushnaprasad area in Puri district, which was cancelled due to this incident. Rupala reached Puri around 10.30 pm, the official said.
Earlier in the day, he launched the programme at Gopalpur harbour in Ganjam district. Rupala, along with Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will lay the foundation for a project for modernisation and upgradation of Paradeep fishing harbour on Monday.