Drone found in fishing net triggers panic in coastal village

Mahakalapada: The discovery of a drone entangled in the fishing net of a villager sparked panic in the sleepy coastal Suniti village in the district early Saturday morning.

According to sources, the drone was found in a net placed as a barricade by Srimant Gochhait, a villager, of Ward No. 6 in the village, a little past Friday midnight.

Following the receipt of the information, the Tantiapala Marine Police rushed to the spot and seized the device. Authorities said it could be a drone used for taking aerial photographs and videos.

An investigation is currently underway.

Official sources said that stringent security measures have been in place to safeguard key establishments along the Kendrapara coastline in view of the tensions between India and Pakistan.

The Ministry of Shipping has closed all lighthouses for visitors, including the False Point Lighthouse at Batighar Gram Panchayat in Kendrapara, for administrative reasons.

The closure came into effect May 8 and will continue till May 17, according to Jayanta Kumar Chattarjee, in-charge of the False Point Lighthouse.

The lighthouse is one of the oldest in the Indian subcontinent. It is situated on a large island formed by the Mahanadi river delta.

Historically, ships of the British East India Company approaching the Kolkata port often mistook the Mahanadi for the Hooghly river, leading to the naming of the location as ‘False Point.’

To aid maritime navigation, the lighthouse was planned in the early 1830s. The Maharaja of Burdwan donated the land for its construction to the British East India Company.

Building materials like boulders and lime were transported via sea routes, and construction officially began December 6, 1836.

The 38-meter-tall circular tower, tapering at the top and leading into the lantern room, was completed October 16, 1837.

PNN

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