Maharashtra has reported the highest number of accidental deaths even as the rate of accidental deaths decreased in India, according to the latest annual report on Accident Deaths and Suicides.
The statistics released for 2020 on October 28, 2021, said that Mahatrashtra witnessed 57,806 deaths, contributing nearly one-sixth (15.4 per cent) of total accidental deaths reported in the country. It said that the total number of accidental deaths in 2020 was 3,74,397.
HIGHER PERCENTAGE
Uttar Pradesh comes next in line in case of accidents, recording 31,691 deaths When the rate of accidental deaths in Madhya Pradesh was 10.8 per cent, Karnataka repo9rted 6.5 per cent, Rajasthan 6 percent, Gujarat 5.6 per cent, Chhattisgarh 5.4 per cent, Odisha 5 per cent, Tamil Nadu 4.9 per cent and West Bengal four per cent.
Of the total accidental deaths, 7,405 (2 per cent) deaths were due to forces of nature and 3,66,992 (98.0 per cent) deaths due to other causes. The country aloe saw a decrease of 9.1 per cent (from 8,145 deaths to 7,405deaths) in deaths due to forces of nature and decrease of 11.1 per cent (from 4,12,959deaths to 3,66,992 deaths) in deaths due to other causes during 2020 as compared to 2019.
HIGHER AND LOWER RATES
The report found 18 states having higher rates of ‘Accidental Deaths’ as compared. Arunachal Pradesh reported the highest percentage increase (28.7 per cent) in total accidental deaths in 2020. This is followed by Nagaland (17.5 per cent), Odisha (14.8 per cent), Mizoram (14.0 per cent) and Andaman and Nicobar islands (7.6 per cent).
Meanwhile, Lakshadweep reported a decline of 40 per cent of accidental deaths followed by Goa (23.1 per cent), Chandigarh and Rajasthan (22.0 per cent each) and Uttar Pradesh (21.9 per cent).
GENDER WISE
Male and female constitute 80.5 per cent and 19.5 per cent of total victims respectively. Age group of majority of the victims was between 30 to 45years. This group of people accounted for 30.1 per cent of all persons killed in accidents in the country in 2020. A total of 41,015 senior citizens (60 years and above) died in various accidents, which comprised 11 per cent of the deaths.
CAUSES
The report finds an increase in accidents due to Forest Fire, Cyclone, Landslide, Tornado and Flood in 2020 over the previous year. Meanwhile, the deaths because of inter-alia Avalanche, Exposure to Cold, Earthquake, Heat/Sun Stroke, Lightning and Torrential Rain decreased.
The report also notes that deaths due to Air Crash, Suffocation, Stampede Drowning, Sudden Deaths, Poisoning and Electrocution increased. On the other hand, deaths because of Traffic Accident, Factory/ Machine Accidents, Drug overdose, Collapse of Structure, Accidental Explosion, Accidental Fire, Firearms, Mines or Quarry Disaster, Deaths due to Consumption of Illicit/Poisonous Liquor, Falls, Deaths of Women during Pregnancy and Killed by Animals decreased. Apart from this, the report also pointed out a decrease in traffic accidents in 2020 (1,46,354 deaths). In 2019, the country reported 1,81,113 deaths.
CAUSE WISE DETAILS
The Annual report statistics show that 38.6 per cent deaths were due to Lightning (2,862), 13.0 per cent deaths due to Flood (959),10.5 per cent deaths due to Exposure to Cold (776) and 7.2 per cent deaths due to Heat/Sun Stroke (530) . Detailing on the age, the report finds that 6.7 per cent of such victims were below14 years of age (493 out of 7,405 deaths). It also recorded 7.3 per cent in the age-group of 14 – 18 years (540 deaths), 18.9 per cent in the age-group 18 – 30 years (1,398 deaths), 24.5 per cent in the age group of 30 – 45 years (1,816 deaths) and 21.1 per cent in age group 45 – 60 years (1,560 deaths) during 2020. Swath respect to people above 60 years, the statistics say they constituted 21.6 per cent (1,598 deaths) of the total such victims.
CLASSIFICATION OF NATURAL DEATHS
Lightning caused 91.1 per cent, 90.1, 76.5 per cent and 70.7 per cent of total such deaths in Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand respectively. In Bihar, 54.7 per cent (786 out of 1437 deaths) was because of flood. Haryana recorded 71.6 per cent death due to Exposure to Cold. Heat/Sun Stroke. Landslide’ was the dominant factor and caused 100.0%, 89.7%, 60.3% and 57.9% of total deaths in Mizoram (4 out of 4 deaths), Kerala (70 out of 78 deaths), Uttarakhand (44 out of 73 deaths) and Sikkim (44 out of 73 deaths) respectively during 2020.
The majority of accidental deaths due to ‘Cyclone’ in the country were reported in West Bengal that accounted for 59.5 per cent. Torrential Rain was the villain in Jharkhand, which accounted for 23.3 per cent of the deaths due to natural causes.
ACCIDENTAL DEATHS DUE TO OTHER CAUSES
The report analysis showed that majority of deaths were due to traffic accident which accounted for 39.9 per cent (1,46,354 out of 3,66,992 total deaths) of total deaths due to Other Causes in 2020. Sudden Deaths, Drowning, Poisoning and fall caused 13.6 per cent (49,925 deaths), 10.1 per cent 6.1 per cent (22,221 deaths) and 5.6 per cent (20,579deaths) of total deaths due to other causes respectively. The report records that majority of victims in this category were in younger age groups
FIRE ACCIDENTS
The country in 2020 recorded 9,329 cases of fire accident, a decrease of 15.5 per cent as compared to2019. The Analytics said that 9,329 incidents of fire accident caused injuries to 468 persons and 9,110 deaths in 2020. The cause-wise analysis of fire accidents revealed that 57.6 per cent of total deaths (5,248 out of 9,110) were reported in residential/dwelling buildings.
Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of fire cases (1,430 out of 9,329). The state accounted for 15.3 per cent of total such cases.
