The dark side of Bangalore Shining: It’s No.1 in suicides in country

In 2009,Bangalore recorded 2,167 suicides versus 1,051 in teeming Mumbai,and 1,215 in the more-populous Delhi city. Data published by the NCRB shows that Bangalore is also number one in suicide rate (suicides per 100,000 population),a trend that the big city shares with smaller towns like Jabalpur,Rajkot and Coimbatore.

Dr N Satish Chandra,the director of NIMHANS,blames it on rapid socio-cultural changes in the face of furious development. Bangalore is a city of wannabe achievers who want the maximum,he says. “It is a city where failure is not an option.”

Every Tuesday afternoon,counsellor Anita Gracias becomes “Anu” and works the suicide helpline at SAHAI. “Bangalore has a large population pouring in from every remote corner to study and work. They ask,‘Who do I trust?’ Where can I make a genuine friend?’.” Many callers at the helpline,she adds,dial in to ask about the most painless form of suicide.

Bangalore is the country’s third most-populous city alright. But it is also India’s loneliest city,says Gracias.

Dr Mohan Isaac has extensively studied the suicide trend in Bangalore. Now at the School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Western Australia,he points to the data from Bangalore and Kolkata. During the past few years,Bangalore has seen more than 2,000 suicides annually,a rate of 38 per lakh population. Kolkata’s annual number of suicides during this time was around 200. Slow-to-modernise Kolkata has retained the lowest suicide rate amongst 35 Indian cities,says Dr Isaac.

Silicon City as ‘Suicide Capital’

* As per National Crime Records Bureau,Bangalore India’s No. 1 city in suicides

* Its suicide rate (suicides per 100,000 population) is also highest in country

* It accounts for about 16% of all suicides in India’s 30 biggest cities

* Most of the suicides are by those in their prime — between the ages of 16 and 40