Maximum casualties were reported in age group ‘30 years– below 45 years’ followed by the age group ‘18 years – below 30 years’
Accidents due to Forces of Nature
Total of 7,405 deaths in the country was reported due to causes attributable to forces of
nature.
Out of 7,405 accidental deaths attributable to forces of nature, 38.6% deaths due to
‘Lightning’, 13.0% deaths due to ‘Flood’ and 10.5% deaths due to ‘Exposure of Cold’.
Majority (46.1%) of the victims who died due to accidents caused by forces of nature were
reported to be belonging to the age-group of 30-45 years (24.5%) and above 60 years
(21.6%) together.
Under ‘Lightning’, Bihar (436), Madhya Pradesh (429), Jharkhand (336) and Uttar Pradesh
(304) are the biggest victim States/UTs.
Total of 311 (4.2%) out of total 7,405 deaths due to causes attributable to forces of nature
were reported in 53 mega cities.
Accidents due to Other Causes
Under this head are the causes other than Forces of Nature which have resulted in
accidents/deaths. They include deliberate or negligent conduct on the part of human
beings.
Total of 5,88,738 cases were reported in which 3,66,992 persons died and 3,38,903
persons injured.
Male-Female ratio in fatality during 2020 was –80.6:19.4.
The major causes of accidental deaths were (i) ‘Traffic Accidents’ (39.9%), (ii) ‘Sudden
Deaths’ (see Glossary at the end) (13.6%), (iii) ‘Drowning’ (10.1%), (iv) ‘Poisoning’
(6.1%), (v) ‘Falls’ (5.6%) and (vi) ‘Accidental Fire’ (2.5%).
Majority (56.2%) of the deaths in ‘accidents due to other causes’ in the country were in
the age group of 30-45 years ( 30.3% ) and 18-30 years (26.0% ) together.
Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India 2020 [vi]
Total of 11,037 cases of fire accidents were reported in the country during 2020 which
rendered 9,110 deaths and injuries to 468 persons.
Drowning and Poisoning caused 37,238 (10.1%) and 22,221 (6.1%) deaths respectively
during 2020.
Traffic Accidents
Total of 3, 68,828 ‘Traffic Accidents’ were reported during the year comprising 3, 54,796
‘Road Accidents’, 1,014 ‘Railway Crossing Accidents’ and 13,018 ‘Railway Accidents’.
The traffic accidents caused injuries to 3, 36,248 persons and 1, 46,354 deaths.
The percentage share of deaths in traffic accidents due to ‘Road Accidents’, ‘Railway
Accidents’ and ‘Railway Crossing Accidents’ was reported as 91.0% (1,33,201 deaths),
8.2% (11,968 deaths) and 0.8% (1,185 deaths) respectively.
It is worth noting that January (41,199) and February (40,012) accounted for maximum
number of traffic accidents in the country. As per time period wise analysis, maximum
numbers of traffic accidents (72,086) were reported during 18:00 hrs to 21:00 hrs in the
country.
Road Accidents
During 2020, total of 3,54,796 cases of ‘Road Accidents’ were reported which rendered
3,35,050 persons injured and 1,33,201 deaths.
43.6% victims of road accidents were riders of ’two wheelers’ followed by cars, trucks /
lorries and buses have accounted for 13.2%, 12.8% and 3.1% respectively of road
accidental deaths.
Majority (60.6%) of road accidents were due to over speeding accounting for 75,333
deaths and 2,09,736 persons injured. Dangerous/careless driving or overtaking
contributed to 24.3% road accidents which rendered 35,219 deaths and 77,067 persons
injured. Besides, only 2.4% of road accidents were due to poor weather conditions.
59.6% and 40.4% of road accidents were reported in rural areas (2,11,351 cases) and
urban areas (1,43,445 cases) respectively.
31.8% (1,12,879 cases out of 3,54,796 cases) of total road accidents were reported near
residential areas.
Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India 2020
Railway Accidents
Total of 13,018 cases of railway accidents were reported during the year 2020.These
railways accidents rendered 1,127 persons injured and 11,968 deaths.
Majority (70.0%) of railways accidents cases were reported under ‘Fall from trains /
collision with people on track’ (9,117 out of 13,018).
Railway Crossing Accidents
Total of 1,014 cases of railway crossing accidents were reported which caused 1,185
deaths and 71 persons were injured.
Uttar Pradesh has reported the maximum cases of railway crossing accidents (380 out of
1,014 cases) accounting for 37.5% of total such accidents.
Suicides in India
An increase was observed in suicides during 2020 (1,53,052 suicides) as compared to
2019 ( 1,39,123 suicides).
The suicide rate in cities (14.8) was higher as compared to all-India suicide rate (11.3).
‘Family Problems (other than marriage related problems)’ (33.6%), ‘Marriage Related
Problems’ (5.0%) and ’Illness’ (18.0%) have together accounted for 56.7% of total suicides
in the country during the year 2020.
The overall male: female ratio of suicide victims was 70.9:29.1.
Nearly 67.3% of the male victims were married whereas the ratio was 63.1% for the
female victims.
12.6% victims of suicide were illiterate, 15.8% victims of suicide were educated up to
primary level, 19.5% of the suicide victims were educated up to middle level and 23.4% of
the suicide victims were educated up to matric level. Only 4.0% of total suicides victims
were graduate and above.
Suicide by ‘Hanging’ (57.8%), Consuming ‘Poison’ (25.0%), ‘Drowning’ (5.2%) and ‘SelfImmolation’ (3.0%) were the prominent means of committing suicides.
Maximum cases of mass/family suicide were reported from Tamil Nadu (22) followed by
Andhra Pradesh (19), Madhya Pradesh (18) and Rajasthan (15).
