Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: West Bengal’s Royal Bengal Tigers area Sundarbans, recorded the world’s highest drowning mortality rate of 243 per lakh population among children in the age group of one to four in three years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study.
The study, which was conducted from 2016 to 2019, also found that this region has a mortality rate of 38.8 per lakh population among children aged between five and nine.
The study was conducted in 19 blocks, 13 in South 24 Parganas district and six in North 24 Parganas of the region on incidents reported from October 2016 to September 2019.
“There was no difference in the mortality rates among boys and girls. Most children drowned in ponds within 50 metres of their homes when they were unaccompanied by their primary caretakers who were engaged in household work,” it said.
The survey was carried out by non-governmental organisation Child in Need Institute (CINI), in partnership with global agencies Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and The George Institute (TGI).
