India, April 17 -- According to data from Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), 517 children under the age of five were reported dead between April 2024 and February 2025.

The year before, from April 2023 to March 2024, the number was even higher - 792 deaths. In total, 1,309 children in the 0-5 age group have died in just two years, as per the records of the PMC's city family welfare bureau.

Furthermore, the report stated that the PMC had reported fewer deaths in earlier years - 194 child deaths in 2022-2023 and 370 in 2021-2022. The PMC has attributed the rise to more precise and thorough reporting.

PMC health officials claim that poor prenatal and postnatal care, malnutrition, infectious diseases, pre-term birth complications, birth asp...