Boat Carrying Central Min, Sambit Patra Stranded in Chilika Lake

Bhubaneswar: A boat with Union minister Parshottam Rupala and BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra was stranded in Odisha’s Chilika Lake for around two hours on Sunday evening.

Later the Union minister clarified that they were stranded as the boat lost way in the largest lagoon in Asia. Initially, it was suspected that the boat was stuck in a net laid by fishermen. The stranded Union minister and Patra were rescued by another boat sent by the administration.

The boat that was stranded in the Chilika Lake had the Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra and some local BJP leaders on board.

They begun their boat ride from Barkul in the Khurda district and were on the way to Satapada in the Puri district through the Chilika Lake.

Their boat was stranded near Nalabana Bird Sanctuary for over two hours. “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 later told reporters.

After receiving information, the administration sent a vessel from Satapada to rescue the minister and his associates. A program scheduled to be attended by Rupala near the Krushnaprasad area in Puri district was cancelled at the last moment due to this incident. Rupala reached Puri around 10.30 pm.