A major fire broke out at Bahour Lake, a transboundary wetland sharing borders with neighbouring Puducherry, at around 1 a.m. on Thursday, August 3, 2023. The lake is located in both Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, and is the second-largest freshwater lake in Puducherry.
Residents living in the vicinity of the lake in Vinayagapuram and Karaimedu near Cuddalore, reported huge clouds of smoke emitting from the waterbody. Officials of the Puducherry Forest Department alerted their counterparts in Tamil Nadu about the fire, and teams with fire tenders from both sides, from Cuddalore and Puducherry, are in the process of dousing the fire, as of mid-morning on Thursday.
The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. According to a senior Forest Department official, “The fire has been reported from three locations on the lake on the Tamil Nadu side. The extent of the fire is huge and the Puducherry Forest Department has been extending all help to Tamil Nadu. Our immediate focus is to control the fire. A preliminary investigation has revealed that the fire was man-made,” the official said.
