New Delhi: Accidental deaths in the country decreased by 11.1 per cent in 2020 as compared to the previous year, the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) said on Thursday.
The total number of accidental deaths, per lakh population, in 2020 was 3,74,397 as against 4,21,104 in 2019. Of the 3,74,397 deaths, 7,405 (2.0 per cent) were due to forces of nature, while 3,66,992 (98.0 per cent) fatalities were due to other causes.
There was a decrease of 9.1 per cent from 8,145 deaths to 7,405 deaths due to forces of nature and a dip of 11.1 per cent from 4,12,959 deaths to 3,66,992 owing to other reasons.
Maharashtra, with a population share of 9.1 per cent, has reported the highest number of fatalties (57,806), accounting for 15.4 per cent, while the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh with a population share of 16.9 per cent constituted (31,691) 8.5 per cent),
It was followed by Madhya Pradesh (10.8 per cent), Karnataka (6.5 per cent), Rajasthan (6.0 per cent), Gujarat (5.6 per cent), Chhattisgarh (5.4 per cent), Odisha (5.0 per cent), Tamil Nadu (4.9 per cent) and West Bengal (4.0 per cent) of the total accidents in 2020.
Chhattisgarh reported (68.6 per cent), followed by Puducherry (56.9 per cent), Anadman and Nicobar Islands (53.3 per cent), Haryana (50.8 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (48.4 per cent) and Maharashtra (46.7 per cent) against the national average of 27.7.
Eighteen (18) out of 36 States/UTs reported higher rates of fatalities as compared to the country’s average of 27.7 deaths.
Majority of accidental deaths were due to cyclones in West Bengal accounting for 59.5 per cent (22 out of 37 deaths) of the total.
In Jharkhand, majority of the deaths were due to “torrential rains” and accounted for 23.3 per cent (10 out of 43 deaths).
The report also elaborated that the death due to lightning was the dominant factor and caused 91.1 per cent, 90.1 per cent, 76.5 per cent and 70.7 per cent of total such deaths in Chhattisgarh (246 out of 270 death), Tamil Nadu (64 out of 71), Madhya Pradesh (429 out of 561 deaths) and Jharkhand (336 out of 475 deaths), respectively.
The report said that 54.7 per cent (786 out of 1437 deaths) of deaths in Bihar was due to flood, 71.6 per cent (53 out of 74 deaths) in Haryana were due to exposure to cold, while heat and Sun stroke was the dominant factor, causing 57.6 per cent (98 out of 170 deaths) of total accidental deaths due to forces of nature in Telangana.
Categorising landslide as the dominant factor, the NCRB report said that this caused 100 per cent, 89.7 per cent, 60.3 per cent and 57.9 per cent 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.
(IANS)