On average, Boat mishaps claimed more than 700 lives annually between 2001 & 2015

Andhra Pradesh witnessed another boat accident where 7 people are still missing. Last year, more than 20 people lost their lives in a boat mishap in Andhra Pradesh. The data available with NCRB indicates that more than 10000 people lost their lives in boat mishaps between 2001 & 2015. Four states account for more than 50% of these deaths.

Seven (7) people including six children are reported to be missing after a boat carrying them capsized in the Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh. In 2017, twenty-one (21) tourists lost their lives in a boat mishap in the Krishna river in Andhra Pradesh. Mr. K. J. Alphons, the Minister in charge of Tourism of the Government of India had written to the Chief Ministers of all the states in 2017, requesting them to put in place a protocol to prevent such incidents in the future. Data available with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) indicates that more than 10000 lives have been lost in boat mishaps in the 15 years between 2001 and 2015. The Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India (ADSI) reports for the year 2016 & 2017 are yet to be released by the government.

Most such incidents occurred in 2008 & 2009
A total of 8772 incidents of boat mishaps were reported between 2001 and 2015 resulting in the death of 10580 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 & 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 & 2011). The least number of reported incidents & deaths was in the year 2014. On average, more than 700 people lost their lives annually in boat mishaps between 2001 & 2015.

More than 70% of the victims are Male
Of the more than 10000 people who lost their lives between 2001 & 2015, more than 70% are male. Between 2001 & 2015, 7710 male and 2870 female lost their lives in boat mishaps. The proportion of male deaths was more than 70% in every year except in 2004.Four (4) states accounted for more than 50% deaths
The four states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar & Chhattisgarh together accounted for more than 50% of the deaths due to boat mishaps between 2001 & 2015. Uttar Pradesh topped with 1753 deaths followed by 1665 in Madhya Pradesh and 1216 in Bihar. These are the only three states with more than 1000 deaths each in the 15-year period. There are more than 500 deaths each in seven (7) states and more than 200 deaths each in fifteen (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 & Nagaland reported a death in only one out of these 15 years. In thirteen (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 fifteen years.