By Andrew W. Lyngdoh
Shillong, Jul 20 : Assam recorded the highest number of deaths in
accidents among the northeastern states in 2014 while Meghalaya had the
maximum increase of reported traffic accidents in the country, according
to a report.
The Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2014 report provided by
the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has revealed that there were
4,51,757 accidental deaths reported in the country, an increase of 12.8
per cent compared to 2013.
In 2013, there were 4,00,517 accidental deaths recorded in the country.
The data revealed there were 52 accidental deaths every hour in 2014.
While every hour nearly two persons died in "natural calamities", the
data revealed that nearly 36 people were killed in "unnatural accidents"
every hour in 2014.
"Out of 4,51,757 accidental deaths, 3,16,828 and 1,14,728 deaths were
due to unnatural causes (70.1 per cent) and other causes (25.4 per
cent), respectively, and the remaining 4.5 per cent deaths were due to
causes attributable to forces of nature," the report said.
(See chart)
Accidental deaths attributable to nature include deaths owing to
floods, earthquake, landslides, lightning and epidemic, among others.
Deaths owing to unnatural causes included traffic accidents, air
crash, drowning, collapse of structure, stampede, and others, while
deaths owing to other causes include those caused by consumption of
spurious liquor, suffocation and deaths of women during pregnancy, among
others.
The notheastern states, including Sikkim, recorded a total of 8,875
accidental deaths, and out of these, 6,623 were deaths owing to
"unnatural causes" while 530 and 1,722 deaths were owing to "natural"
and "other causes".
Assam recorded the highest number of accidental deaths while there
were no accidental deaths owing to "natural causes" in Manipur.
On an all-India basis, the data revealed that the incidence of
accidental deaths increased by 12.8 per cent during 2014 compared to
2013.
The data revealed the quantum of accidental deaths by causes
attributable to forces of nature has declined by 11.2 per cent and that
of deaths by unnatural causes (including other causes) has increased by
14.2 per cent during 2014 over 2013.
The highest rate of accidental deaths was reported from Puducherry
(96.3) followed by Chhattisgarh (84.6), Gujarat (59.2), Haryana (58.5),
Madhya Pradesh (57.6) and Maharashtra (57.0) against the national
average rate of 36.3, the data said.
Gender-wise analysis revealed that 21.5 per cent and 78.5 per cent of the total victims were females and males respectively.
"The age group of most of the victims was between 18 and 45 years.
This group of people accounted for 58.6 per cent of all persons killed
in accidents in the country during 2014. A total of 41,744 senior
citizens were also killed in various accidents during 2014," the data
revealed.
Traffic accidents: The data revealed that traffic
accidents in the country have marginally increased by 1.3 per cent
during 2014 compared to 2013. The maximum increase (55.2 per cent) was
reported in Meghalaya (from 194 cases in 2013 to 301 cases in 2014), the
data stated.
"Traffic accidents comprising road accidents, railway accidents and
railway crossing accidents were the major contributors to accidental
deaths by unnatural causes," the data stated.
A total of 4,81,805 traffic accidents comprising 4,50,898 road
accidents, 28,360 railway accidents and 2,547 railway crossing accidents
were reported, and these accidents caused 1,41,526, 25,006 and 2,575
deaths respectively in 2014, the data revealed.
In 2014, the northeastern states recorded 9,885 traffic accident cases. Out of these, 7,825 cases were in Assam alone.
Meghalaya recorded 301 cases, Tripura (716), Mizoram (95), Manipur
(735), Nagaland (39), Arunachal Pradesh (112) and Sikkim (62 cases).
The data revealed that the 9,885 traffic accidents had caused 4,037 deaths, the maximum being in Assam with 3,212.