Over the past three years, road accidents and lightning strikes have resulted in the loss of 17,335 lives in Odisha, according to the Minister.
In Odisha, a total of 17,335 lives were lost due to road accidents and lightning strikes over three years. Transport Minister Bibhuti Jena and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari presented this data in the Legislative Assembly.
Arpit Pattnaik
A total of approximately 17,335 people have died in separate incidents of road accidents and lightning strikes in Odisha over the last three years, as reported by Commerce and Transport Minister Bibhuti Bhusan Jena and Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari on Thursday.
Minister Jena confirmed that road accidents have tragically resulted in the deaths of 16,278 individuals during this period. Additionally, 30,453 people have sustained serious injuries due to these accidents.
These statistics were shared in response to a question from MLA Chakramani Kanhar during a session of the Legislative Assembly.
In the same timeframe, lightning strikes have accounted for 1,057 fatalities. Of these, 201 deaths occurred in the last seven months, 271 during the fiscal year 2023-24, and 306 in the fiscal year 2022-23. The districts of Mayurbhanj, Balasore, and Ganjam reported the highest number of lightning-related deaths.
This information was presented by the Disaster Management Minister in the Assembly.
It is worth noting that Bangiriposi Ghat Road (National Highway-49) in Mayurbhanj has become known as a ‘killer road’ due to the rising number of accidents resulting in fatalities. Over the past two years, more than 250 road accidents have occurred on this Ghat road, leading to over 100 serious injuries and more than 50 deaths, according to sources.
