Ministers stuck in boat in Odisha’s Chilika Lake for 2 hours as boat loses direction 

On Sunday (7^th January), a boat transporting Union minister Parshottam Rupala stuck in Chilika Lake in Odisha for about two hours. 

At first, it was thought that the boat had gotten caught in a fishing net, but the Union minister subsequently explained that they had just got lost in the blue lagoon.

The Union minister for fisheries, animal husbandry, and dairying was quickly rescued by the administration and taken to his destination by another vessel. Rupala was accompanied by a few local party leaders who were also stuck on the boat, as well as Sambit Patra, the national spokesperson for the BJP, during the incident.

The incident happened as the minister was traveling across the blue lagoon to get from Barkul in the Khurda district to Satapada in the Puri district. An official assigned to the minister’s convoy stated that the motorized boat got stuck near the Nalabana bird sanctuary for about two hours.

The minister and his entourage were able to board and arrive at their destination as soon as the administration sent another boat from Satapada. Rupala’s planned appearance in the Puri district near the Krushnaprasad area was abruptly canceled due to the incident. Around 10.30 p.m., Rupala finally made it to Puri, according to an official.

As part of the eleventh phase of the “Sagar Parikrama” program, the Union minister is currently in Odisha, where he will interact with the local fishermen. He had launched the program at Ganjam district’s Gopalpur harbor earlier in the day. Rupala and Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal will lay the groundwork on Monday for a project to renovate and modernize the Paradip fishing harbor.