Bhubaneswar, August 1 : As many as 8506 people have drowned in odisha during the last five years from 2016 to 2021, Minister of state for Home Tusharkanti Behera told the state Assembly on Monday.

Replying to a question of Sukant Kumar Nayak (BJP), the Minister said 935 people were drowned in 2016, 1079 in 2017, 1406 in 2018, 1441 in 2019, 1840 in 2020 and 1805 in 2021.

Behera said the highest number of 121 drowning cases were reported from Cuttack UPD in 2016 followed by 54 in Balasore in the same year.

Mayurbhanja district reported the highest number of drowning incidents in 2017, 2018, 2019 ,2020 and 2021.

While 90 people drowned in 2017, 123 drowned in 2018, 104 in 2019, 152 in 2020 and 167 in 2021.

After Mayurbhanja, Keonjhar district reported the maximum number of drowning cases.

As many as 69 people drowned in 2017, 91 in 2018, 93 in 2019, 133 in 2020 and 145 in 2021,
the Minister said.