Bhubaneswar, March 19 Altogether, 6,578 people were killed due to lightning, drowning, and snakebites in Odisha in the last two financial years, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari told the assembly on Thursday.
In response to a question from MLA Chakramani Kanhar, the minister said that 3,439 people died in such incidents in the 2023-24 financial year, and 3,139 in 2024-25.
During the two years, 3,860 people drowned in various water bodies, while lightning strikes claimed 600 lives, and 2,118 people were killed after being bitten by venomous snakes, he said.
In 2015, the Odisha government had declared heatwaves, lightning, boat capsizes, tornadoes, heavy rainfall, drowning, snakebites, and fires as state-specific disasters, providing assistance to victims from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
In cases of deaths due to lightning, drowning, and snakebites, the Odisha government provides Rs 4 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased from the SDRF through direct benefit transfer, Pujari said.
During the last two financial years, the government disbursed a total of Rs 263.12 crore as ex gratia to the families of 6,578 deceased people, he said.
More than 200 people drowned in Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh, Keonjhar, Ganjam, and Cuttack during the period, as per the data provided by the minister in the House.
The majority of snakebite deaths were registered in Balasore, Cuttack, Ganjam, and Keonjhar districts, he said.
The Mayurbhanj district accounted for the highest number of deaths at 119 due to lightning strikes in the two years.