Over 20 people lost their lives when an under-construction flyover collapsed in Kolkata. Data collated by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) indicates that 13,178 people lost their lives due to the collapse of various structures from 2010-2014 in 13473 such cases. This is an average of 7 such incidents a day.
1821 Deaths Due to Collapse of Structures in 2014
The NCRB collates this data in its annual report Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India. Various un-natural causes of death are listed in this report and collapse of various structures is one the causes captured by the NCRB.
A total of 13,473 such cases were reported from 2010-2014. 2,677 cases were reported in 2010, 3,125 in 2011, 2,764 in 2012, 3,074 in 2013 and 1,833 in 2014.
Building Collapses Resulted in Close to 50 Percent of the Deaths
The NCRB categorises the data on collapse of structures into 5 different categories.
From 2010 to 2014, a total of 4,914 people lost their lives because of the collapse of residential buildings. This is about 37.3 percent of the total deaths.
1. The collapse of commercial buildings resulted in 1,610 deaths.
2. The collapse of Dams & Bridges resulted in 124 and 297 deaths respectively. Collapse of dams & bridges accounted for 3.2 percent of all the deaths.
3. The highest number of deaths was because of the collapse of other structures like flyovers etc. Collapse of other structures resulted in 6,233 deaths or 47.3 percent of the total deaths.
Most Deaths in the Bigger States
As expected, most such deaths took place in the bigger states. The only exception to that trend was West Bengal. A total of 184 deaths (1.4 percent) took place in West Bengal from 2010 to 2014.
The highest number of such deaths took place in Uttar Pradesh.
From 2010 to 2014, 2,065 people lost their lives in Uttar Pradesh due to collapse of structures. 1,343 lost their lives in Maharashtra.
All these followed by 1330 in Andhra Pradesh, 1176 in Madhya Pradesh, 1154 in Tamil Nadu and 1067 in Gujarat.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)