Bhubaneswar: A total of 1,772 persons have died of drowning in different water bodies including rivers and sea in the State during the last three years.
This was revealed by Minister of State for Home Tusharkanti Behera in the Odisha Assembly on Monday in a written reply to a query from BJD MLA from Dharamgarh Mousadhi Bag.
As per the break-up shared by the Minister, as many as 726 persons died of drowning in the year 2022 while 576 died in 2021 and 469 in 2020.
A close look at the figures shows that there has been a marked increase in the number of drowning deaths in the State.
While drowning death cases jumped by 22.81% in the year 2021 as compared to 2020, the cases further jumped by 26.04% in 2022 over the previous year (2021).
The Minister informed that Fire Services personnel and emergency services personnel with necessary equipment are deployed at vulnerable places near river banks during festivals for rescue purposes.
He said that necessary measures are being taken to create awareness among people to avoid bathing in the river at vulnerable points.
Since there has been an increasing trend of drowning in rivers and sea in the State, all Fire Station employees have been asked to identify such vulnerable places in respective areas under their jurisdiction and take steps to generate awareness, he added.
