Two Students Drown at Odisha’s Gumma Waterfall; Rescue Ongoing for One Missing Youth

A leisure outing turned deadly on Tuesday evening when two 19-year-old students from Vikram Dev University in Jeypore drowned at the picturesque yet treacherous Gumma waterfall in Odisha’s Malkangiri district. The victims, S Shikar from Narayanpatna and Lingaraj Mahapatra from Nuasahi, were second-year Plus III students who had visited the popular spot with three friends.

Eyewitness accounts reveal that four of the five students decided to bathe in the waterfall despite slippery rocks and strong currents. Three of them lost their footing and were swept into the swirling water. Local villagers responded swiftly to their cries for help and managed to rescue one youth, but Shikar and Lingaraj were carried away by the powerful flow.

Rescue teams comprising ODRAF personnel from Koraput, local fire services, and Mathili police launched an intensive operation that continued for over 15 hours. Shikar’s body was eventually recovered trapped between rocks deep inside the water, while the search for Lingaraj Mahapatra remains ongoing. Mathili police have registered a case and are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.

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This marks the second fatal drowning at Gumma waterfall within five months, following the deaths of two brothers from Jeypore in June 2024. Despite its popularity as a tourist destination, the site lacks basic safety infrastructure such as warning signboards, barricades, and trained lifeguards.

Local residents have expressed outrage over the district administration’s continued failure to implement preventive measures, warning that without urgent intervention, Gumma waterfall will remain a deadly attraction claiming more young lives.

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