Road, railway accidents alarmingly high in Uttarakhand
Sat, Jul 19 01:20 AM
Here's a warning for reckless drivers in Uttarakhand. Statistics show the chances of getting killed in road accidents in the hill state are much higher than in most other parts of the country.
The latest report on accidental deaths in 2006 prepared by the National Crime Records Bureau say road accident deaths comprised 54.6 per cent of all unnatural deaths in Uttarakhand - much higher that the national figure of 36.1 per cent. Of the total 1058 traffic-accident related deaths in the state in 2006, 975 were due to road accidents while railway accidents claimed 78 lives.
Expectedly, accidents involving buses and trucks were responsible for most of these deaths. Significantly, while the rate of deaths per hundred accidents was just 26.8 per cent in the country, in Uttarakhand the figure stood at 66.7 per cent, the sixth highest after Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab and Sikkim.
The report shows 248 persons were killed in truck accidents, 181 in accidents involving buses, 44 in tempos, 95 each while traveling in jeeps and cars and 94 while riding two wheelers. Bicycle accidents claimed nine lives and 26 pedestrians also died during the year.
The total number of accident deaths in Uttarakhand from both natural and unnatural causes stood at 1,855 in 2006, which is a 7.8 per cent increase from 1,720 in 2005. Of the unnatural causes, 105 died due to food poisoning or accidental intake of chemicals.
Drowning accounted for 99 deaths followed by fall from height with 77 casualties. Twelve persons died in house or building collapse, 53 were electrocuted, 11 died in gas cylinder explosions and 14 lost their lives after falling in pits and manholes.
It was worth noting that of the 25 deaths reported due to fire from gas cylinders and stoves, 16 were women and only 9 men. Three persons died due to fire from short circuits and 47 others from different fire accidents.