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Recent electrocution deaths have highlighted one of the major safety issues in India, especially during the monsoon season.
In the past week alone, at least 10 people have died from electrocution. These range from an accident outside New Delhi railway station in which a 34-year-old schoolteacher touched an exposed wire to seven deaths – including two children – due to electrocution during Ulta Rath Yatra in Unakkoti district of Tripura. In either case, an investigation was ordered to determine responsibility.
Although not widely discussed, deaths from electrocution have been one of the leading causes of accidental deaths in India, second only to traffic accidents, drowning, poisoning and falls.
A closer look at government data reveals the scale and severity of the problem that people face every single day of their lives. In the previous 10 years up to 2021, more than 1.13 thousand people in India lost their lives due to fatal trauma.
In 2021, the most recent year for which NCRB data is available, there were 12,529 deaths attributed to electrocution in the country, an average of 34 deaths per day. What is more worrying is that the number of deaths and their share of the total number of accident deaths in the country is on the rise.
In 2012, 8,750 people died of electric shock in India. The number increased by 54 percent to 13,446 in 2020 before declining slightly to 12,529 in 2021. Similarly, the share of electrocution in total accident deaths was 2.20 percent in 2012, which rose to 3.70 percent in 2020 before seeing a slight decrease in 2021. The decrease can be attributed to Covid-19 related lockdowns.
Among the states, Madhya Pradesh, for inexplicable reasons, remains the leading state for deaths related to electrocution. Between 2012 and 2021, 19,417 people lost their lives in the state due to this hazard. Although it comprises only 6.2 percent of India’s population, it accounts for more than 17 percent of all deaths due to electric current.
Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh take the second, third and fourth places on this notorious list, recording 14,086, 10,263 and 9,844 deaths respectively over the same period, according to government data.
The majority of those killed by electrocution in 2021 belonged to the 18-44 age group. According to the data, 4,049 deaths were recorded in the age group 18-29 years, while the number of deaths slightly exceeded the number 4,084 for the age group 30-44. Together, these two age groups accounted for 65 percent of all deaths related to electrical injuries. Of the total deaths in the year in question, more than 85 percent were males, while the remainder were females.
The concept of a modern, electricity-free society is incomprehensible. As electricity has become an integral part of human life, so have the risks and dangers associated with electric currents.
The heavy reliance on electricity in homes, offices, public spaces, and industries has greatly increased the incidence of deaths from fatal electrical injuries. The presence of exposed wires in public places exacerbates the danger, as we saw in both the case of the Delhi landmark and the Tripura incident.
While explaining the danger posed by electric current, experts stress that one does not necessarily need a shock of 10,000 volts to be fatal.
“The current drawn by a small electrical device such as a 7.5-watt, 120-volt lamp, passed from hand to hand or from hand to foot across the chest, is sufficient to cause death by electrocution,” the researchers wrote, citing Daniel Fatowicz. Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Royal Perth Hospital, Western Australia, in a 2019 report in the Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences (EJFS).
The same paper, based on an analysis of deaths from electrocution between 2012 and 2016 in central India, found that direct contact with a live electric wire caused 22.72 percent of all deaths. This was followed by misuse of an electric rod to heat water (18.1 percent), contact with an overhead wire (15.9 percent), use of an evaporative water cooler (11.36 percent), and interaction with an electric switchboard (9.09 percent).
Moreover, high temperatures and elevated humidity during the summer months and monsoons lead to excessive sweating. This, in turn, reduces the skin’s resistance to electric current.
The rainy season, according to the EJFS newspaper, accounted for the highest death rate at 38.6%, followed by the summer season at 34.09%, while 27.2% of cases occurred during the winter season.
The report concluded that in most of these cases, the victims had contact with water, and attributed seasonal changes in electrocution-related deaths to “differences in humidity, humidity, and individual behaviour.”
Given our ubiquitous exposure to electricity, it is imperative that we exercise caution both in our homes and in our social surroundings. You are advised to avoid the use of old, defective or damaged electrical appliances and crowded circuits. It is essential to have regular home wiring and grounding inspections by a trained professional at regular intervals. In addition, children should be kept away from electrical appliances or tools that they cannot handle.
Electrical switchboards should always be installed at a height that is out of reach of children. Power sockets must be removed before checking or repairing electrical tools. Always make sure your hands are dry when touching the devices.
When we are outside our homes, it is advised to avoid touching the poles with any form of electrical connections or entering into waterlogged areas during the monsoon season.
While negligence can be fatal, being careful can protect us from deadly electric shocks that experts warn do not excuse makers if safety standards are breached.
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