Irrigation channel fall accident The country provides full assistance for measures led by prefectures. First December of next year, December 16, 0:20
In response to a series of accidents falling into irrigation channels throughout the country, the government's next year's budget plan will include the first full-time subsidy for the expenses for prefectural governments to take measures to prevent irrigation channel accidents.
Agricultural water and irrigation canals are drained over residential areas as farmland becomes residential land, and there are a number of accidents in Japan where children and the elderly fall.
There are no detailed nationwide statistics for traffic irrigation accidents like traffic accidents, but when NHK interviewed various fire departments, it was found that at least 2000 people were killed or injured in irrigation canals in 15 prefectures in the last year. .
The government is proceeding with the drafting of the budget plan for the next fiscal year with the aim of a cabinet decision on the 20th of this month, and about 25.8 billion yen, 24% higher than the initial budget of this year, will be included as a budget for repairing agricultural waterways and disaster prevention measures. It is a prospect.
In order to urgently implement safety measures for agricultural waterways, etc., expenses required for prefectural governments to grasp the dangerous points of waterways and to prepare fences and lids according to the degree of danger until the Ordinance 3 It was found through interviews with government officials that a project that fully subsidizes the project was included.
The country has been carrying out a project to subsidize a part of the cost since FY2017 when land improvement districts etc. take safety measures, but the country subsidizes the total amount for the countermeasure project led by the prefecture Is the first time.
In this budget plan, if the plan submitted by the prefecture to the country is approved, the irrigation channel managed by the municipality or the land improvement district will be fully subsidized for the highly urgent danger points. It is expected that safety measures will advance.
About 2000 casualties in 15 prefectures
Accidents involving children and elderly people falling into irrigation canals have continued throughout the country.
However, because the police record only “drown accidents” in drowning accidents on irrigation canals, and do not take statistics in the classification of “irrigation canal accidents”, including cases where they hit the head and die or get injured, I don't know the actual details.
NHK reported to 233 firefighting headquarters in 15 prefectures, where there were many drowning accidents in the three years until the man in the statistics of the National Police Agency, the number of cases and the number of deaths and injuries, etc. I also covered the situation of the accident independently.
As a result, we found that there were 154 people who died last year, more than 1,800 injuries, and about 2,000 casualties.
There were 154 people who died, more than three times the 47 police statistics, and more than 1,800 injured people, compared with 7 police statistics.
Hardware measures such as installing fences and lids are effective in preventing such falling accidents.
However, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the total length of the irrigation channel is estimated to be 400,000 kilometers, which is equivalent to 10 laps of the earth, and hardware measures are extremely expensive.
In addition, there are various irrigation channel managers, such as “land improvement districts”, which are operated by farmers, and prefectures and municipalities. The country has also started a project to assist some of the expenses when land improvement districts take safety measures since 2017, but in particular land improvement districts are a system that subsidizes some of the expenses due to lack of budget and manpower Even if there was, safety measures could not proceed.
A woman who lost three family members "The husband was not dead"
Reiko Yonehara of Nyuzen-cho, Toyama Prefecture, who lost three family members in an irrigation channel accident about the country's embarking on a new measure, “I think the number of accidents will decrease as the country moves. It was not. "
In August of last year, Mr. Yonehara died of his husband Mitsunobu (69 at that time) in a irrigation channel near his home.
More than 40 years ago, the father who was driving a motorcycle accidentally fell on the irrigation channel near the site and died, and the younger sister before Yonehara was born, when the parents took their eyes off, the irrigation channel I drowned and died.
Ms. Yonehara has responded to NHK's interviews that she wants to “eliminate people who feel the same way as herself”, and this time about the country's new measures, “If you do not take measures against dangerous irrigation channels, I think that there are some difficult places in the prefecture and town alone, so I think that the number of accidents will decrease considerably in 5 years and 10 years after the movement of the country. “I was n’t wasted,” he said with tears.
"I am confident that I won't fall"
In Toyama Prefecture, the elderly account for 80% of those who fall to the irrigation channel and die, but the number of people who answered that they were confident that they would not fall into the irrigation channel increased in their 70s or more. I understood that.
Experts call attention to be fully aware of the dangers, as overconfidence that they will not fall is a factor leading to accidents.
Toyama Prefecture, where there are many irrigation canal accidents across the country, is not only fatal, but in order to help prevent accidents by collecting injured cases and so-called “hiyarihat” cases that are likely to fall, the prefecture's land improvement districts, municipalities, A questionnaire survey was conducted on approximately 2000 people, including staff from the prefectural office.
As a result, 51.7% of respondents said that they, or their family members, or acquaintances had a risky experience in irrigation canals, accounting for more than half of the total.
On the other hand, the percentage of those who answered “I have confidence” in response to the question “I am confident that I will not fall into the irrigation canal” was 25.1% in the 70s and 20.8% in the 80s and above, the lowest 40s I found that it was 3 to 7 points higher than that.
According to the prefecture, the number of elderly people over the age of 65 who fell to agricultural irrigation canals in the prefecture for the past 10 years is 149, exceeding 80% of the total.
The prefecture calls for attention to be aware of the dangers of familiar irrigation channels, as the motor function and balance of elderly people decline with aging, and the overconfidence that they will not fall is leading to an accident. .
Expert “Recognized as a problem for the whole society”
Prof. Hidetoshi Saito of Nagaoka University of Technology, who is familiar with the actual situation of irrigation canal, pointed out that the state should recognize the irrigation canal accident as a problem of society as a whole, and that the prefectural government should proceed with countermeasures. It is.
Prof. Saito said, “There was an aspect that was left to the land improvement area that owns and manages the irrigation canal, and the reason for the lack of funding was the lack of funds and the lack of personnel. This is because there was a large difference in awareness of safety measures among the improved districts. "
In addition, the fact that a project that fully subsidizes accident prevention measures by prefectures will be included in the government budget plan for the next fiscal year (Ordinance 2). It has the meaning of being recognized as a whole problem.It is meaningful in the future that prefectures can take proactive measures from places with high urgency. "
He also said, “So far, young children and elderly people have lost their lives due to irrigation canal accidents. We want you to use this budget to take measures to prevent this history from being repeated in the future.”