Odisha reports 405 lightning fatalities on an average every year

On average, 405 human lives are being lost every year in the State due to lightning strikes even as the government has initiated several steps including launching an SMS alert message dissemination system and installing state-of-the-art lighting alert systems in vulnerable pockets of the State.

The minister of revenue and disaster management, Sudam Marandi replying to a query by Congress MLA Tara Bahinipati told the House that lightning has claimed 178 lives this year so far while the cumulative death toll due to lightning strikes stood at 1,621 since 2017.

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In an attempt to bring down the lightning fatalities, the State Government has signed an MoU with Earth Networks and has installed lightning detection sensors at 8 locations in Keonjhar, Balangir, Berhampur, Jeypore, Rourkela, Bhubaneswar, and Panikoili to receive an early warning on possible lightning strikes, the minister told the house.

Lightning was declared as a State-specific disaster on April 1, 2015. As per the revised norms, Rs 4 lakh per deceased is now being paid by the government as ex-gratia towards lightning victim’s families.

Prior to 2015, ex-gratia was either being paid from the chief minister’s relief fund or district gratuitous relief fund.

While 472 perished in lightning strikes in 2017-18, 340 persons died in 2018-19. In the 2019-20 years, 357 lightning fatalities were recorded followed by 274 deaths in 2020-21.

The State has also launched a drive to undertake plantation of palm trees along with the vacant roadside patches and forest-bordering areas as these tree species act as protective barriers against lightning during thunderstorms.

Thanks to improved early-warning infrastructure mechanisms and increased public awareness, the scourge of lightning fatalities have registered a sharp downward trend in the Eastern State.

The majority of victims are rural (96%) which include farmers, women, and children. They have been found to be vulnerable because of working in the open.

There are 71% of people who are struck by lightning due to standing under trees during rains, thunderstorms, or lightning, added officials.