Chhattisgarh stands 3rd in accidental death rate, 4th in suicide rate among states: NCRB report

Raipur, Sep 30 (PTI) Chhattisgarh stood at the third place in recording rate of accidental deaths and fourth in rate of suicides among states in 2023, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report.

As per the NCRB annual report 2023, among the 28 states, the highest rate of accidental deaths was reported in Maharashtra (55.1) followed by Haryana (53.7) and Chhattisgarh (52.9), against the national average of 31.9.

However, two Union Territories (UTs) -- Ladakh and Puducherry -- reported much higher rate of accidental deaths at 75.4 and 66.5, respectively, than these top three states. There are eight UTs in the country.

As many as 19 out of 36 states/UTs have reported higher rates of 'accidental deaths' as compared to all-India Average of 31.9 fatalities per one lakh of population, said the report.

Accidental deaths have been grouped into two broad categories -- 'deaths due to forces of nature' including lightning, heat/sunstroke, landslide, and 'deaths due to other causes' such as traffic accidents, animal attacks, consumption of spurious liquor and factory accidents, it said.

Chhattisgarh reported 16,011 accidental deaths in 2023, including 230 due to 'forces of nature' and 15,781 due to 'other causes'.

In 2022, the state had recorded 16,893 accidental deaths, including 248 due to 'forces of nature' and 16,645 due to 'other causes', which declined by 5.2 per cent in 2023.

Among the total 6,444 accidental deaths due to forces of nature in the country, 39.7 per cent, or 2,560 fatalities, were caused due to 'lightning'. Of 230 deaths due to forces of nature in Chhattisgarh, 180 were caused by lightning, NCRB data showed.

A total of 456 incidents of consumption of illicit/spurious liquor caused 522 deaths in the country during 2023. States where such deaths were reported included Jharkhand (194) followed by Karnataka (79), Bihar (57), Chhattisgarh (37), Punjab (33) and Himachal Pradesh (25 deaths), it said.

Similarly, rate of suicides in Chhattisgarh was fourth highest at 26 after Sikkim (40.2), Kerala (30.6), and Telangana (27.7) among 28 states in 2023. All-India rate of suicides (the number of suicides per one lakh population) was 12.3 during the year 2023, the report said.

Andaman & Nicobar Islands (49.6) and Puducherry (28) are among UTs that are ahead of Chhattisgarh in the rate of suicides. Chhattisgarh reported 7,868 suicides in 2023, which was 6.8 per cent less than the number recorded in 2022 at 8,446, it added. PTI TKP RSY