A tragic incident unfolded at Blue Lake near Mitrapur Panchayat in Nilagiri block of Baleshwar district, where two college students went missing while bathing on Saturday morning.
According to preliminary reports, three friends — Anshuman Patra (Bhadrak), Bhavesh Patra (Baripada), both students of Fakir Mohan Degree College’s Commerce Department, and Roshan Nayak (Kendujhar), a student of Remuna Degree College — had visited the lake. While bathing, Anshuman and Bhavesh slipped into deep water and drowned, while Roshan, who does not know how to swim, managed to escape.
Roshan raised an alarm, but locals allegedly did not respond immediately. Rescue teams comprising Nilgiri police, firefighters and ODRAF personnel launched search operations, but as of filing this report, the missing students had not been traced.
The so‑called Blue Lake is an abandoned quarry, now filled with rainwater, and is known to be dangerously deep. Locals have repeatedly demanded fencing around the site, but authorities have allegedly ignored the appeals, leading to recurring accidents.
The incident has sparked grief and anger in the area, with residents blaming administrative negligence for the tragedy. Search operations are continuing.
