# Two college students missing after drowning in Balasore quarry 2026-08-22T11:09:03+00:00 | India | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Two college students went missing after drowning in a water-filled abandoned quarry at the Blue Lake quarry near Mitrapur in Odisha's Balasore district on Saturday. The victims, residents of Bhadrak and Baripada, were among three students from Fakir Mohan College who had visited the spot for a recreational outing. While bathing, two students got into difficulty and disappeared into the deep water. The third student managed to escape safely. Nilagiri Fire Services personnel are conducting a search and rescue operation at the site. Locals said similar mishaps have occurred at the quarry in the past. The incident has raised concerns about safety hazards at abandoned quarries filled with deep water. The search operation for the missing students is currently underway. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Abandoned quarries across Odisha, especially in Balasore and Sundargarh districts, have claimed dozens of lives over the past decade, yet no statewide database of such water bodies exists. The Mines and Geology Department has no mandate to fence or monitor disused pits once the lease expires, leaving local administrations to act only after a tragedy. The district administration should map every abandoned quarry in Balasore and post warning boards immediately. The next meaningful step would be a High Court or state government directive mandating dewatering or fencing of all hazardous quarry pits. ## Coverage - odishatv.in Straightforward factual reporting of the incident with no opinion or framing beyond the event. This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Balasore, Fakir Mohan College, Nilagiri, Odisha Fire Services Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/two-college-students-missing-after-drowning-in-balasore-quarry/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/two-college-students-missing-after-drowning-in-balasore-quarry/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/