A total of 6,444 deaths in the country happened due to ‘forces of nature’ like lightning, heat stroke, and floods, in 2023.
As per the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report Accidental deaths and suicides in India, lightning was responsible for the highest number of deaths in India in 2023 — 39.7 per cent or around 2,558 people.
This was followed by heat/sun stroke which killed approximately 806 people, exposure to cold killed 733 people, and 266 deaths happened due to floods during the year 2023. Landslide and ‘Torrential Rain’ caused 3.7 per cent (239 deaths) and 0.9 per cent (61 deaths) of total deaths due to forces of nature respectively.
According to the report released on September 29, a majority (63.6 per cent) of the victims who died due to accidents caused by forces of nature were reported to be belonging to the age-group of 30-45 years and 45-60 years together.
State/UT wise deaths due to forces of nature during 2023
Source: Accidental deaths and suicides in India 2023, NCRB
Under lightning strikes, Madhya Pradesh (397), Bihar (345), Odisha (294), Uttar Pradesh (287), and Jharkhand (194) were the biggest victim states/Union Territories (UTs). In some states or UTs, even though the number of people who died due to lightning was less, it was a dominant factor percentage wise, as all or maximum deaths were due to lightning.
In the UTs of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, 100 per cent deaths due to ‘natural forces’ were from lightning (three out of three deaths). In Karnataka, of 74 total deaths, 71 were because of lightning.
Similarly, in West Bengal and Chhattisgarh, 81.3 per cent deaths (143 out of 176) and 78.3 per cent deaths (180 out of 230) respectively were attributable to lightning.
In the last few years, lightning has emerged as a new climate challenge for India, which has seen a 400 per cent rise in lightning strikes from 2019-20 to 2024-25. Studies suggest that increasing warming trend has a role to play and with every 1oC rise in temperature, there is an 8-10 per cent rise in lightning strikes.
Heat/sun stroke was the dominant factor and caused 62.0 per cent (85 out of 137 deaths) of total accidental deaths due to forces of nature in Telangana, whereas 52.9 per cent (18 out of 34 deaths) of deaths in Sikkim were due to ‘flood’.
Landslide was the dominant factor causing deaths in hilly regions. In Mizoram all five deaths, in Arunachal Pradesh 18 of 20 deaths, in Himachal Pradesh 87 of 145 deaths, in Meghalaya 9 of 17 deaths, and Tripura 4 of 9 deaths were due to landslides in 2023.
Meanwhile, of 201 deaths in Haryana and 260 deaths in Punjab due to ‘natural forces’, 124 and 127 respectively were due to ‘exposure to cold’.
A total of 602 (9.3 per cent) out of total 6,444 deaths due to causes attributable to forces of nature were reported in 53 mega cities.
Overall, the highest number of total deaths due to ‘natural forces’ were reported from Odisha (1,351), followed by Uttar Pradesh (852 deaths), Madhya Pradesh (789 deaths) and Bihar (679 deaths).