Bhubaneswar: Natural calamities take a big toll on citizens of the state as many deaths are now reported from Odisha due natural calamities and many other preventable mishaps, a report claimed Thursday.
The figures relating to the loss of lives in the state was tabled before the State Assembly by the revenue and disaster management minister Sudam Marndi. In a response to a query on the loss of lives due to natural calamities, the minister furnished a written reply detailing the causes of deaths.
The report which pertains to deaths from 2016-17 to 2019-20 (till June 25, 2019) reveals that in last four years the state lost a total of 6,228 lives to natural disasters. The natural calamities which have been listed for the cause of such deaths included-lightning, fire accidents, sunstrokes, floods, cyclone, drowning and snakebites.
An analysis of the report claimed that maximum deaths in Odisha in last four years due to natural calamities could be attributed to snake bites which stood at 2,217. On the other hand, drowning seemed to the next highest killer which took 2,135 lives in last four years.
Other top five causes of deaths in Odisha from natural factors included-lightning (1259 lives) in last four years. Similarly, fire accidents also proved to be another top five natural killers as it claimed 285 lives over last four years. The state which is also prone to cyclones also seemed to have suffered a setback. Cyclones in the state as per the report of the government is said to have taken 125 lives since 2016. On the other hand less killer natural calamities included-whirlwind (32), flood (33), boat capsize (26) and sunstroke (116).