Bhubaneswar: Odisha has recorded 8,506 drowning deaths in the last six years, with an annual average of almost 1,417 deaths, Minister of State for Home Tusharkanti Behera informed Monday in the Assembly.
In a written reply to a question of BJP MLA Sukant Kumar Nayak, Behera said 935 cases of drowning deaths were reported in 2016, which went up to 1,079 in 2017 and 1,406 in 2018. Similarly, 1,441 drowning cases were reported in 2019, 1,840 in 2020 and 1,805 in the 2021, he added.
As per the statement of Behera, the highest number of drowning cases (121) was reported from Cuttack urban police district in 2016 followed by 57 in Mayurbhanj district and 54 in Balasore district in the same year.
The data also showed that Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Ganjam reported more drowning deaths compared to other districts every year.
In 2021, the highest number of deaths—167, were reported from Mayurbhanj district, followed by Keonjhar (145), Ganjam (111), Bhadrak (98), Kendrapara (95), Puri (80) and Jagatsinghpur (80).
The Odisha government has included drowning deaths in the list of state specific disasters in order to provide financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to kin of the victims.