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NEWS ALERTS | Missing the tree for the woods: Deaths due to cold
Missing the tree for the woods: Deaths due to cold

Missing the tree for the woods: Deaths due to cold

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published Published on Jan 6, 2016   modified Modified on May 6, 2016

They say that fact is stranger than fiction, and the fact is that more people in India die annually due to exposure to cold weather rather than because of earthquake, cyclone or torrential rain.

Data accessed from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows that every year more people die because of 'exposure to cold' than due to landslide, flood or epidemic.

The report entitled Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2014, which is produced by the NCRB informs us that 913 deaths happened due to 'exposure to cold', whereas 541 people died due to flood, 499 due to landslide, 156 due to torrential rain, 62 due to cyclone and 48 due to epidemic.

Out of 20,201 accidental deaths in 2014 due to natural causes, nearly 12.8 percent deaths were caused by lightning, 6.2 percent deaths happened due to ‘heat/ sun stroke’ and 4.5 percent deaths due to 'exposure to cold’. Therefore, 'exposure to cold' is the third major reason behind deaths attributable to forces of nature in 2014.

Flood and landslide caused 2.7 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively of total deaths attributable to forces of nature in that year, says the ADSI 2014.

Based on the information provided by NCRB, it can be said that nearly 2 persons died each hour due to causes attributable to forces of nature during 2014. However, the silverlining is that the share of accidental deaths due to forces of nature has declined from 5.7 percent in 2013 to 4.5 percent in 2014.

Table 1: No. of accidental deaths by causes attributable to nature

ADSI Table Image
 
Source: Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 (NCRB)

Note: * In 2011, 2012 and 2013, this head included number of deaths caused by starvation/ thirst. But in 2014, this head only included starvation due to natural calamity
** In 2014, deaths caused by cyclone and tornado have been separately presented by the ADSI.
*** Deaths due to forest fire was first included in ADSI 2014

It is worth noting that during the last 4 years, most natural accidental deaths happened due to lightening, heat/ sun stroke, and exposure to cold (see table 1).

In 2013, a total of 22,759 people died due to accidental deaths attributable to forces of nature. In that year, 2833 lives were lost due to lightning, 1216 due to heat/ sun stroke, and 946 persons died due to exposure to cold.  

It must be noted that it is mostly the homeless people who are exposed to cold weather. In the past, the Supreme Court had directed the states to provide night shelters to the homeless.

The Census 2011 data reveals that the population of homeless declined by 8.8 percent between 2001 and 2011 to reach 17.7 lakhs. This means that 4.5 lakh households (of average household size 3.9) still do not have any shelter to sleep safely.

The Census has found that between 2001 and 2011 houseless population in urban areas grew by 20.5 percent but in rural areas it declined by 28.4 percent. The population of homeless in urban areas (9.4 lakhs) is more than that in rural areas (8.3 lakhs). The proportion of houseless children in houseless population has declined from 17.8 percent in 2001 to 15.3 percent in 2011.

The Census 2011 has presented data on homeless households by household size. Most number of homeless households at the national-level comprise single member households (total: 1,10,831) to be followed by 7+ member households (total: 74,132).

The top 5 states in terms of number of homeless population are: Uttar Pradesh (3.3 lakh), Maharashtra (2.1 lakh), Rajasthan (1.8 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (1.46 lakh) and Andhra Pradesh (1.45 lakh). Gujarat (1.4 lakh) comes 6th. However, if one considers the ratio of homeless population to total population (in a particular state), the top 5 big states are: Rajasthan (0.3 percent), Gujarat (0.24 percent), Haryana (0.2 percent), Madhya Pradesh (0.2 percent) and Maharashtra (0.19 percent).


References:

Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ADSI), National Crime Records Bureau, http://www.ncrb.gov.in/

Decline in Homeless Population: Census Data, please click here to access
 
Why Delhi’s homeless prefer to sleep in the freezing cold than in government shelters -Harsh Mander, Scroll.in, 26 December, 2015, please click here to access
 
Why 781 Indians needlessly die every winter, India Spend, 27 November, 2015, please click here to access

Ministry for adding lightning to the list of notified disasters, The Hindu, 14 December, 2014, please click here to access
 
Delhi’s confusing figures on homeless, The Hindu, 19 August, 2014, please click here to access

Census pegs homeless at 18 lakh, but activists dispute it -Rukmini S, The Hindu, 8 December, 2013, please click here to access 

Homeless population falls to 18 lakh -Rukmini S, The Hindu, 7 December, 2013, please click here to access
 

Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi


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