Nagaland recorded lowest accidental deaths in 2021

Over 43% of total deaths due to traffic accidents 

Moa Jamir 
Dimapur | August 31 

Nagaland once again recorded the lowest rate of accidental deaths among the States and Union Territories (UTs) with 73 deaths in 2021. 

As per the latest ‘Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India (ADSI) 2021’ released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, accidental deaths in Nagaland decreased by 1 from 74 in 2020 to 73 in 2021. 

The number denoted ‘Rate of Accidental Deaths’ of 3.3 as per lakh population against the national average of 29.1 based on the projected mid-year population of 2020.  

Apart from 2021 and 2020, Nagaland also recorded lowest accidental deaths in India at 63. 

Overall, the number of accidental deaths in India increased from 3,66,992 in 2020 to 3,90,404 in 2021, with Maharashtra reporting highest number of accidental deaths at 58,242, followed by Madhya Pradesh (39,830) and Uttar Pradesh (36,521).

Among the North-East States, Assam had the highest number of accidental deaths at 4497, followed by Tripura (631) and Meghalaya (550). 

The highest rate of accidental deaths per lakh population  was reported from Chhattisgarh (59.2) followed by Puducherry (58), Andaman & Nicobar Islands (52.5), Haryana (52.3), Ladakh (51), Madhya Pradesh (47.7) and Maharashtra (46.7) against the national average of 29.1.

Twenty out of 36 States/UTs have reported higher rates of ‘Accidental Deaths’ as compared to All India Average of 29.1 deaths per one lakh of population, the report highlighted. 

Among the States/UTs, Tamil Nadu has reported the highest percentage increase (53.8%) in total accidental deaths in the year 2021 as compared to 2020 (from 18,390 in 2020 to 28,286 in 2021), followed by Uttar Pradesh (15.2%), Telangana (10.8%), Andhra Pradesh (9.5%) and Punjab (9.1%).

Gender-wise analysis reveals that male and female constitute 81.6% and 18.4% of total victims respectively. Age group of majority of the victims was between 30 to 45 years, accounting for  for 30.9% of all persons killed in accidents in the country during the year 2021.

Types of accidental deaths in Nagaland 
As per the report, out of 73 accidental deaths in Nagaland, 1 was due to ‘forces of nature’ while the remaining (72) was designated as ‘Other Causes.’ 

The single death (male) due to ‘forces of nature’ was due to ‘Exposure to Cold,’ informed the NCRB data. 

The State had recorded 12 deaths due to ‘forces of nature’ in 2020 and the 2021 figure denoted a 91.7% decline.

However, death due to ‘other causes’ increased from 62 in 2021 to  72 in 2021, denoting a 16.1% increase.

Gender-wise, there were 67 male victims of accidental deaths while 6 were females.

Among the leading causes of accidental death in Nagaland was Traffic accidents, which claimed 32 lives comprising of 29 males and 3 females. 

The number denotes over 43% of the total accidental death in the State in 2021. 

Death due to Firearm was next with 16 people succumbing to such accidents, the report stated. This denotes over 21% of the total deaths. 
Other causes leading causes were Accidental Fire due to Electrical Short Circuit (5), Drowning (4) and Mines or Quarry Disaster (4).