RAYAGADA: A Youth from Andhra Pradesh drowned in Nagavali river near the hanging bridge while taking selfie in Rayagada town on Tuesday. He has been identified as 35-year-old T Ganga Raju of Kottavalash in the neighbouring State.
According to reports, a group of youths from Kottavalash had come to Rayagada to offer prayer at Majhigharani temple. After visiting the temple, they went to the hanging bridge at Chekaguda on the outskirts of the town and were taking selfies when Ganga Raju slipped into the river and was swept away. His friends raised an alarm and informed locals who called up the fire fighters. A few hours later, fire fighters rescued him in an unconscious condition. He was rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.
The hanging bridge, which is the second such bridge in Odisha after the Dhabaleswar bridge in Cuttack district, attracts a lot of tourists. However, the Nagavali river spot below the bridge is dangerously located and many persons have slipped into the river in the past.
Apparently, this is not the first time that people have died while taking selfies at the same spot. In October last year, two women tourists from Andhra Pradesh drowned while clicking selfies near the river. While posing on a slippery rock in the river, they lost balance and slipped into the river. They were E Jyoti and S Sredevi and the women along with nine other tourists had come from Vishakapatnam to visit the temple and suspension bridge over Nagavali river.
Attempting to take selfies in dangerous areas has claimed several lives in Odisha in the past, prompting the State Government to identify ‘no selfie zones’ and launch public awareness campaigns. Till now, the State Government has identified 20 ‘no selfie zones’ and asked district collectors to barricade the areas. These include Duduma, Sanaghagara, Badaghagara and Kandhadhar waterfalls, Chilika lake, river in Bhitarkanika National Park.
MISHAPS SO FAR
May 2, 2018: A man was mauled to death while taking selfie with a wounded bear in Nabarangpur
December 12,2017: A 50-year-old man was crushed to death by a wild tusker while trying to take a selfie with the animal at Nuapada village in Angul district
September 1, 2017: A youth was trampled to death by a wild elephant while trying to take a selfie with an elephant near Mandiakudar village of Kuanramunda forest range in Rourkela
June 7, 2017: Abhisek Nayak of Masania village in Dhenkanal was seriously injured when he was attacked by an elephant while taking a selfie
October 12, 2016: A 25-year-old software engineer R Pattanaik fell into a river and drowned in Gajapati while taking a selfie