Why death by drowning in India on rise ?

Vinod Chandrashekhar Dixit
25th July is marked as the World Drowning Prevention day. There are an estimated 320,000 annual drowning deaths worldwide. Drowning is the 3rd leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide, accounting for 7 percent of all injury-related deaths. The day supports individuals and organizations in understanding the global context of drowning and drowning prevention, as well as in using the advocacy materials created for the event to improve what they are doing and inspire others in their networks to do the same. Drowning and lack of first aid is an open-ended health hazard across the globe, especially Asia. World Health Organisation, terming drowning a global burden, states that “children aged under five years are disproportionately at risk and males twice as likely to drown as females. Over half of casualties are aged under 25 years.
Drowning is among the ten leading causes of death for children and youth aged 1-24 years. More than 90% of drowning deaths occur in rivers, lakes, wells and domestic water storage vessels in low- and middle-income countries, with children and adolescents in rural areas disproportionately affected. According to WHO, men accounted for 78% of all drowning deaths in India. The world over, men are at a higher risk of drowning, with twice the mortality rate of women, because of a higher exposure to water and riskier behaviour such as swimming alone, drinking alcohol before swimming alone and boating. Nearly 70% of the country lives in villages and small towns having water bodies like ponds, lakes, rivers and reservoirs, most of which are unprotected, unguarded and unsupervised, leading to drowning incidents. Lack of awareness, negligence, entering waters in an inebriated state and even suicidal acts account for the increasing instances of drowning. Drowning also happens to be an easy way for murdering people and the police are reluctant to register drowning cases as they are difficult to solve, especially in rural areas.  The remote locations of drowning events lead to underreporting to hospitals and police stations, and hence there is a lack of data on drowning. India has been seen maximum number of “selfie death” incidents with highest toll of 160 deaths. Drowning in natural water environments and among young children are issues of concern in India. Weak swimmers attempting to rescue other persons may themselves be at risk of drowning. 
In India with unguarded lakes, ponds and rivers, especially in rural areas, there is no government policy for preventing drowning, such as barriers around water-bodies, safety lessons to children in schools, and safe boating laws. Lifesaving is an important concept, but our country has taken a long time to realise this. We do not have a central policy or authority to form policy on drowning prevention and safety. No doubt, Precautionary measures such as putting up warning signs near water bodies where drownings are reported frequently, enhanced patrolling at beach areas and dissemination of information through police aid posts at tourist hotspots are being done but it seems to have had little impact in bringing down accidents. According to the National Crime Record Bureau’s , every day more than 100 people drown in India on average. Drowning deaths are preventable except in cases of suicide and murder.
Despite many lives being lost each year, drowning remains a largely unrecognised threat to health and wellbeing. Despite conveying sufficient information on water safety, the lack of willingness to learn about safety measures remains a hindrance. There should be more public awareness using mass and social media and more government resources for awareness programmes, protective and security devices. “No selfie zones’ could be a way to decrease selfie casualties and injuries. India identified ‘no selfie zones’ but the move has not led to any decrease in the reported “selfie deaths”.With adequate supervision, swimming instruction, and public education measures, it is estimated that 85% of drownings can be prevented.We need to work across all sectors to develop national water safety plans and policies.
(The writer is Free-lance Journalist, Writer & Cartoonist)