Drowning deaths shows upward trend in Odisha

The Odisha government has registered a record of 10,000 people lost their lives due to drowning in the state in the last seven years, with 1,476 individuals drowned in the state in 2022, taking the total number of cases to 9,982 between 2016 and 2022.

The shocking revelation was as per the standing committee report on Revenue and Disaster Management department. It was also said that drowning claimed more lives than any other natural calamity or state specific disasters last year.

However, Government statistics suggest the number of drowning cases in 2022 is less compared to previous two years as the state had recorded 1,805 such deaths in 2021 and 1,840 in 2020.

Apart from this, statistics suggest 935 cases of drowning deaths had been recorded in Odisha in 2016, which subsequently went up to 1,079 in 2017, 1,406 in 2018 and 1,441 in 2019.

Drowning is considered the third most common cause of accidental deaths in the State after road accidents and snakebites.“It is a cause of concern as the number of fatalities is rising every year. Negligence during bathing is one of the primary cause of such deaths but still no precautionary measures are taken on this part.

The State Government has declared drowning as a State Specific Disaster and is providing ex gratia of `4 lakh to the family of the deceased after due field verification.

The standing committee in its report mentioned that to make the people aware, programme regarding drowning will be planned and apart from this we will impart training to sensitise in a proper way in near future.