Boat Mishaps Claimed Over 700 Lives Annually From 2001 to 2015

Over 10,000 deaths due to boat mishaps in 15 years with four states accounting for more than 50 percent for them.

A migrant boat capsizing at sea.

(Photo: AP)

More than 20 people lost their lives in a recent boat mishap in Andhra Pradesh. The data available with National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) indicates that more than 10,000 lives have been lost in boat mishaps between 2001 and 2015. Four states account for more than 50 percent of these deaths.

Twenty-one tourists lost their lives recently in a boat mishap in the Krishna river in Andhra Pradesh. KJ Alphons, the Minister in charge of Tourism of the Government of India has written to the chief ministers of all the states requesting them to put in place a protocol to prevent such incidents in the future.

Most Such Incidents Occurred in 2008 & 2009

A total of 8,772 incidents of boat mishaps were reported between 2001 and 2015 resulting in the death of 10,580 people as per the ‘Accidents & Suicidal Deaths in India (ADSI)’ report of the NCRB.

The year 2008 saw the greatest number of such incidents at 847. More than 700 such incidents were reported only in two other years, 2009 and 2010.

After 2010, the number of such incidents decreased continuously till 2014 when only 180 incidents were reported. The number of such incidents again increased in 2015 when 315 incidents were reported. More than 900 people lost their lives in each of the years 2007, 2008 and 2009.  More than 800 lives were lost in two other years (2006 and 2011). The least number of reported incidents and deaths was in the year 2014. On average, more than 700 people lost their lives annually in boat mishaps between 2001 and 2015.

Deaths due to boat mishaps by year.(Photo Courtesy: Factly.in)

More Than 70 Percent of the Victims Are Male

Of the more than 10,000 people who lost their lives between 2001 and 2015, more than 70 percent are male. Between 2001 and 2015, 7,710 males and 2,870 females lost their lives in boat mishaps. The proportion of male deaths was more than 70 percent in every year except in 2004.

Deaths due to boat mishaps by gender and year.(Photo Courtesy: Factly.in)

Four States Accounted for More Than 50 Percent Deaths

The four states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Chhattisgarh together accounted for more than 50 percent of the deaths due to boat mishaps between 2001 and 2015. Uttar Pradesh topped with 1,753 deaths followed by 1,665 in Madhya Pradesh and 1,216 in Bihar.

These are the only three states with more than 1,000 deaths each in the 15-year period. There are more than 500 deaths each in seven states and more than 200 deaths each in 15 states. Of all the states, only Sikkim did not report even a single death because of a boat mishap in these 15 years. Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland reported a death in only one out of these 15 years. In 13 of the states, at least one person died due to boat mishap in each of the 15 years. The Union Territories did not report even a single death in two out of the 15 years.

Deaths due to boat mishaps between 2001-2015 by state.(Photo: Factly.in)

(The story was originally published on Factly.in)

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