According to the freshly released NCRB crime data, forces of nature such as lightning strikes, floods, heat, cold, and landslides claimed around 6,444 lives in the year 2023. Categorised under Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India, lightning strikes alone accounted for 39.7% or 2,560 of the total 6,444 deaths. While heat or sunstroke claimed around 804 lives, exposure to cold claimed 733 lives. Floods, landslides, and rain also turned out to be key causes of death under the “forces of nature” category, according to the NCRB report 2023.
Snake bites, animal attacks, and insect bites were other natural or environmental causes that claimed a substantial number of lives. According to the report, snake bites caused 10,144 deaths (a 0.6% increase over the 10,085 deaths recorded in 2022). Meanwhile, 1,739 people were killed by animals, and 1,172 due to other reptiles (excluding snakes) or insect bites.
The overall number of deaths due to forces of nature declined by 20% compared to 2022. However, deaths caused by heat stroke and cold exposure rose by 10% and 1.8% respectively.
State-wise analysis suggests that Odisha recorded 1,351 deaths, the highest due to forces of nature. Odisha was followed by Uttar Pradesh with 852 deaths, Madhya Pradesh (789), Bihar (679), Jharkhand (401), and Maharashtra (312). The states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, UP, and Jharkhand accounted for the highest share of lightning deaths. Together, 63.6% of the total victims who died due to accidents caused by forces of nature were in the age groups of 30–45 years and 45–60 years.
Heat and Cold Exposure
Heat stroke killed the highest number of people in Telangana, where among the 137 deaths recorded due to forces of nature, 85 (62%) were due to heat or sunstroke. Landslides also accounted for a high proportion of deaths in the hilly states of Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Meghalaya.
Heat and cold exposure accounted for 21.1% and 19.6% of deaths, respectively, across a total of 53 cities — making up 602 deaths in 2023. Amritsar recorded the highest number of deaths due to cold exposure (51), followed by Ludhiana (22) and Kanpur (15). Amritsar also reported the highest deaths due to heat (56), followed by Ludhiana (20) and Dhanbad (11).
