From 75 water incidents we checked one by one (2022 to 2026), 210 deaths. Each record links to a news report, and we confirmed the quoted sentence is really in it. This is not every drowning in India (official figures run to tens of thousands a year); it is a careful sample that shows patterns.
Summer holidays bring crowds to beaches and waterfalls, and pre-monsoon and monsoon swells make the sea rough. Waterfalls and rivers are most dangerous in the monsoon (June to September), when water can rise within minutes.
We checked the waves on the day of 41 beach drownings: those days were no rougher than the three months around them (average 51st percentile; only 15% among the roughest quarter of days, against 25% by chance). People drown on ordinary-looking days, pulled by rip currents or a sudden wave. A calm forecast is not a reason to swim.
Swim only near lifeguards and between their flags; never after drinking or in the evening; stay off wet rocks; if caught in a rip current, swim sideways, not back; if a friend is pulled out, shout for help and throw something that floats instead of swimming after them. See the pictures.
Download the table (CSV): date, place, type of water, deaths and the source link for every incident. Free to use with credit to Making Human Safe. The death counts are as first reported; some tolls rose later.