Lightning strikes: India
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
Lightning strikes: India
2014: Deaths caused by lightning
.jpg)
.jpg)
The Times of India, Sep 08 2015
In 2014, more than 20,000 people were killed by accidents caused by forces of nature.Among the known reasons of these deaths, the largest chunk were due to lightning, which alone killed more than 2,500 people. It was followed by heat sun stroke, exposure to cold and flood, each causing more than 500 deaths. A state-wise comparison of lightning deaths shows that the highest number of causalities was reported in Madhya Pradesh, where over 400 people lost their lives.Andhra Pradesh, where 19 people got killed by multiple lightning strikes on Sunday, witnessed 69 deaths in 2014.
2019
In MP
Ankur Sirothia , Oct 26, 2019: The Times of India
Madhya Pradesh had the highest number of lightning deaths in the country in August-September this year. At least 150 people were killed in these two months, and there were over 6.25 lakh lightning flashes across the state — twice as many as second-place UP.
This is in addition to 102 lightning deaths between April 1 and July 1, which means 250 people were struck dead by lightning in six months. Between April and July, MP was fifth in lightning strikes at 4.81 lakh. But in the next two months, it blazed to first place with 6.24 lakh lightning strikes. UP came second with 2.96 lakh strikes.
2010-2020: alarming spike in deaths
August 27, 2024: The Times of India
Hyderabad : There has been an alarming spike in deaths due to lightning strikes across country between 2010 and 2020. And climate-change induced extreme weather may only trigger more deaths, reports Pinto Deepak.
Researchers led by Fakir Mohan University, Balasore, Odisha, studied National Crime Records Bureau data to find that lightning caused 1,01,309 deaths between 1967 and 2020, with a sharp rise in casualties between 2010-2020. Data shows there has been a rise in average annual fatalities per state and UT from 38 during 1967-2002 to 61 between 2003-2020. The study was published in the journal, Environment, Development and Sustainability.
“Data shows that an average of 1,876 deaths are reported (in country) annually,” said Prof Manoranjan Mishra of the university’s geography department, who authored the study, Lightning-related Fatalities in India (1967–2020): Detailed Overview of Patterns and Trends. “Increased frequency and intensity of lightning strikes due to evolving climatic conditions has led to a sharp rise in fatalities in India over the years,” he told TOI.
According to the data, almost a third of the deaths (29,804) took place between 2010 and 2020 while the first four decades registered 71,505 deaths. Central and northeast India account for the highest incidence of lightning deaths. Data also revealed that central India alone accounts for 50,884 (50%) deaths.
Prof Mishra attributed the increased incidence of lightning strikes to environmental degradation, climate change, regional variability, high population exposure, geographical and climatic diversity, inadequate early warning systems and socio-economic factors.
2020: 1,771 lightning deaths
Shobita Dhar, January 9, 2021: The Times of India
From: Shobita Dhar, January 9, 2021: The Times of India
India’s first ever Annual Lightning Report (2019-2020), released on December 31, has recorded 1,771 deaths due to lightning between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2020. This despite the fact that the country has 82 lightning detectors, apps that deliver alert notifications for upcoming incidents, and the IMD can relay immediate lightning forecasts for the next three hours.
According to experts, the problem is the last mile delivery of the warning. The report hopes to address this gap by providing extensive state-wise data on lightning strikes, fatalities and patterns. The maximum number of lightning deaths, 293, was reported in Uttar Pradesh, followed by 248 in Madhya Pradesh, 221 in Bihar, 200 in Odisha, and 172 in Jharkhand. However, the number of deaths reduced by about 25% from 2018.
‘Standing under trees linked to 71% of lightning deaths in India’
The report, compiled based on numbers as received from state governments, media and volunteers, and as part of ‘The Lightning Resilient India Campaign’ launched in April 2019, is a joint initiative by Climate Resilient Observing Systems Promotion Council, IMD, ministry of earth science, GoI, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, India Meteorological Society and World Vision India.
In India, every third death due to natural hazards is due to lightning. Nearly 42,500 people were killed by lightning strikes between 2001 and 2018, as per NCRB data. “The northeastern states and the Chota Nagpur Plateau region were identified as lightning hotspots. Tribals in Odisha and Jharkhand were found to be especially vulnerable because their livelihood depends on working outdoors,” said colonel Sanjay Kumar Srivastava, chairman, Lightning Resilient India Campaign and CROPC.
As per the report, the maximum number of fatalities — over 200 — were reported between July 25 and 31, 2019. During Cyclone Fani, Odisha received over one lakh lightning strikes but there were no fatalities because all the 891 cyclone shelters were fitted with lightning arresters. Standing under a tree is the top primary cause of lightning deaths in India, 71% are because of it.
B
Vishwa Mohan, July 20, 2021: The Times of India
From: Vishwa Mohan, July 20, 2021: The Times of India
India had last year recorded a nearly 23% increase in lightning episodes compared to 2019 with Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha and West Bengal turning out to be among the top vulnerable states in terms of reporting this weather phenomena.
Though the lightning along with thunderstorm had claimed more lives in Bihar, UP, Jharkhand and Maharashtra compared to the top five that reported lightning episodes last year, the increase in number of such events, recorded by the Earth Networks — a private agency of a nationwide lightning detection network in India — shows vulnerability of most parts of the country.
The Earth Networks report, released on Monday, shows its network had detected nearly 39.6 million lightning pulses in India in 2020, of which just over 13 million were dangerous ‘cloud-to-ground’ strikes — the lightning which hit the ground, putting lives and property in danger.
“It’s a huge number which practically makes a large part of the country vulnerable,” Kumar Margasahayam of the Earth Networks, told TOI.
He said issuing timely alerts as part of a robust early warning system, dissemination of the alerts for vulnerable populations and creating awareness among people about the danger of lightning were the three crucial steps to save lives. “India is extremely susceptible to severe weather events,” he said.
2023
61,000 lightning strikes in two hours in Odisha
Minati Singha, Sep 4, 2023: The Times of India
Twelve people died and 14 others were injured in 61,000 lightning strikes across Odisha in two hours on Saturday. The IMD has issued a warning of extreme weather conditions in the state till September 7 with an active cyclonic circulation likely to cause widespread rain, reports Minati Singha.
Four of the deceased in the lightning strikes were from Khurda district, two from Balangir and one each from Angul, Boudh, Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Jagatsinghpur and Puri. An ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh will be paid to each of the bereaved families.
The causes
Bihar’s missing palm trees?
Manoj Chaurasia, May 29, 2025: The Times of India
From: Manoj Chaurasia, May 29, 2025: The Times of India
Avinash Kumar’s life changed in the blink of an eye. It was 3.30pm on April 10. Avinash, a 27-year-old truck driver, was home that day. His two children — Ansh Raj (9), and Raj Nandini (6) — were playing outside the Shiva temple at Nagwan village in Bihar’s Nalanda. And then lightning struck — he saw the flash before he heard the crack of thunder. His two kids, laughing just moments before, lay dead, struck by lightning.
A few metres away, four more villagers lay dead, felled by the killer lightning.
“My world is ravaged. Life has lost all colour, and I can find no happiness,” says Avinash, pointing to dozens of logs felled from gigantic palm trees that are lying nearby. “Lightning strikes kill us at will now. It was never this bad before.” In rural Patna and Nalanda, there has been a curious correlation between the liquor ban — enacted almost a decade ago (April 5, 2016) — and lightning deaths, with such fatalities almost quadrupling, during some years, since the ban took effect.
Scientists and villagers surmise that this could be because people have been cutting down tall, waterand-sap-filled palm trees, as they can no longer be used in the traditional toddy business. Back when these trees were valued for their role in manufacturing toddy, they used to act as nature’s own lightning rods, driving electrical fury away from more vulnerable targets like human life and property.
“People have been cutting down palm trees since they have lost interest in them. The toddy business, after the liquor ban came into effect, is finished,” says former mukhiya Karu Paswan.
The then Grand Alliance govt had enforced total prohibition under pressure from women, who had mounted a sustained protest against men’s tendency to squander money on drink. Although the ban was widely hailed in almost all quarters, the draconian law came in for sharp criticism after Bihar started reporting increased lightning-strike fatalities, coupled with rampant felling of palm trees, not to mention liquor-smuggling from Jharkhand and Bengal.
More Lightning Deaths
According to the Bihar Economic Survey and Disaster Management Department, lightning strikes have claimed 2,446 lives between 2016 and April 2025 in the state, with rural people the worst affected. Analysis of the statistics reveals how fatal lightning strikes assumed alarming proportions since 2016. The report says lightning strikes claimed 133 lives in 2015 and 114 in 2016 (although the tally compiled by central govt is higher). However, after rampant felling of palm trees began following the liquor ban, the death toll began to mount.
“We can’t ignore the rampant chopping of palm trees as normal,” says S K Singh, an agriculture scientist at the Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agriculture University, Samastipur. “This was always going to prove disastrous, as we are seeing now. The trunk and roots of palm trees naturally contain moisture, allowing them to conduct electricity to the ground without obstruction. This makes it an effective natural lightning conductor.” Singh feels the need of the hour is largescale palm plantation. Only then, he says, can the lightning deaths — which have assumed alarming proportions — be arrested.
The Annual Lightning Report, 2023-24, states that lightning strikes have claimed as many as 2,937 lives in Bihar between 2014 and 2024.
The govt report identifies southcentral Bihar as more prone to lightning strikes. In 2024, 72% of deaths (219 out of 303) from lightning strikes were reported only from these areas, with districts like Gaya, Jehanabad, Arwal, Nawada, Aurangabad, Patna, Nalanda, Kaimur, Rohtas, Bhojpur and Buxar the worst affected. The report mentions that most lightning deaths took place between 12.30pm and 4pm, when most rural folk remain out of their homes for agriculture-related work or to tend cattle. July has claimed the highest toll with more men, expectedly, falling prey to lightning strikes.
Plant More Palms
Bihar State Disaster Management Authority (BSDMA) vicechairman Uday Kant Mishra said they were encouraging farmers to plant more palm trees and raising awareness about their unique ability to protect against lightning strikes.
“It’s well known that if there is a tall tree, lightning will strike it first,” Mishra explains. Another official said “lakhs of palm trees” had been felled in the aftermath of total prohibition since they have lost their “usefulness”.
Ranjit Kumar Verma, former vice-chancellor of Munger University, links the rise in lightning-related deaths to environmental degradation. “The cutting down of trees and the reduction in the number of tree clusters are continuously contributing to the rise in lightning strikes,” Verma told TOI , recommending development of dense tree clusters, especially of species such as palm and mahua, to help dissipate electrical discharge in clouds and reduce the likelihood of lightning strikes.
Verma said planners should work out strategies to grow groves at regular intervals to provide continuous dissipation and earthing (neutralisation) of the electrostatic charges that build up in the sky, accumulating to thousands and even millions of volts. High trees such as the traditional local Bihar palm are suitable, he says.
Counting Losses
Bihar Rashtriya Pasi Sena, a platform of Pasi community people traditionally involved in toddytapping, has found that the area covered by palm tree plantations in Bihar has gone down by 40% in the past nine years. “Planting of palm trees has almost stopped after the liquor ban, since the farmers or toddy tappers have lost interest in them. In fact, palm trees are also being cut, since they have become almost useless in the new arrangement,” says Sujeet Kumar Chaudhary, national president, Rashtriya Pasi Sena. Many toddy tappers use the wood for fuel. Further, palm tree wood is widely used for building houses due to its availability, versatility and sustainable properties.
‘Neera’ Tapping
A worried Bihar govt has launched a scheme to promote production and sale of Neera (non-alcoholic palm sap) with the target to tap 2 lakh palm trees and generate 3.9 crore litres during toddy season. Approximately, 20,000 toddy tappers will be engaged for this. This scheme will be managed by the Bihar State Beverage Corporation Ltd (BSBCL).
Bihari Prasad, national general secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Pasi Samaj, said 90% of the Pasi community were landless and depended on the toddy business for survival, but the toddy ban had pushed them to the brink of starvation. The idea could again attract this community to their traditional occupation. Bihar Caste Survey puts the number of Pasis in the state to be nearly 13 lakh — which is about 1% of the state’s population. Back in his village in Nagawan, Avinash says any change of tack to encourage palm tree cultivation by govt isn’t of any use to him now. “I got compensation, but we are alone now. My wife keeps sobbing all the time, thinking about the children. It’s too late,” he says.
WHY VILLAGES ARE MORE VULNERABLE
A lightning bolt carries a massive electrical charge. Even though it dissipates when it hits the ground, people in a given radius of the strike can still get electrocuted, a senior national disaster management expert told TOI. While there is no specific geography where thunder showers or lightning intensity is more pronounced, location does have a role in determining how tragedy strikes. High buildings and lightning rods in urban environs ensure that lightning strikes are safely conveyed to the ground.
Low-lying structures in villages means that lightning directly hits the ground, putting in danger people within a susceptible range. The disaster management expert said that panchayats should take the initiative to put up lightning rods in the highest structure in their vicinity to counter the lightning threat. However, that would not protect people working in the fields when thunderclouds build up. Standing in submerged paddy fields, farmers are especially vulnerable to a lightning strike, the expert said.
But do trees help?
US weather agency National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says, “Tall objects such as trees and skyscrapers are more likely to be struck by lightning... However, this does not always mean tall objects will be struck. Lightning can strike the ground in an open field even if the tree line is close by.”
Authorities in hard-hit places, though, are betting on trees to mitigate tragedies caused by thunder. A top Bihar disaster official said farmers were being encouraged to plant more trees. “The leaves of the palm tree spread out like an umbrella, providing a large area for lightning to strike,” he explained. While the national expert said that studies are needed on the possible advantage palm trees may provide against lighting accidents, Odisha govt is reportedly planting 19 lakh palm trees and restricting their cutting to protect against tragedy.
The problem
The worst affected states and districts/ 2022
August 4, 2024: The Times of India
From: August 4, 2024: The Times of India
Hotter summers combined with heavy rain lead to rise in strikes while lack of awareness makes the poor more vulnerable
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
In June last year, as strong winds started blowing in Jamtoli village, which is in Gumla district about three hours from Ranchi, 10-yearold Deepak Sahu’s eyes lit up. “Mangoes!” he thought, as he clambered on his bicycle. He was joined by an equally enthusiastic 14-year-old Savita and some other friends in anticipation of a feast.
But as the group pedalled down the dirt track towards the mango orchards, not only did the rain become heavier but a storm accompanied with lightning began. “Deepak and Savita were scared and took shelter under a tree while the rest ran back to the village for safety,” Rajesh Sahu, Deepak’s uncle recalls. The decision proved to be catastrophic.
When the storm ended, villagers set out in search. Deepak and Savita, who had been struck by lightning, were rushed to the nearby hospital, but it was too late. Even a year later, Jamtoli continues to reel under the loss. Even worse, residents continue to be unaware that taking shelter under trees during lightning can be fatal.
Officials say that Gumla district alone recorded 30 deaths by lightning in 2023. This is not an isolated example of one district in Jharkhand. Thousands of people, especially in central and east India, die in lightning strikes every year. According to NCRB data, out of 8,060 accidental deaths in India attributable to forces of nature like flood, earthquake, tsunami, about 36% or 2,886 deaths were due to lightning in 2022, up from 1,165 deaths in 1967.
In novels and Hindi movies, lightning or ‘bijlee’ is romanticised and used to describe love at first sight. But in real life, strikes are becoming deadlier. Col Sanjay Srivastava (retd), principal scientist-cum-convener of the Lightning Resilient India Campaign, says climate change is behind the rise in lightning strikes as heat and moisture are two basic ingredients for thunderstorms. “This is aggravated by deforestation, depletion in water bodies, urbanisation, rise in aerosol levels due to pollution, rampant mining, industrialisation, among other factors,” he adds.
Incidentally, analysis of lightning deaths over two decades shows that they are more likely to occur in the afternoon. Almost 88% of fatalities are reported from seven states including MP, UP, Bihar and Odisha. The reason is frequency of strikes and density of population. Also, lightning victims belong to the rural population (96%), mostly farmers, cattle grazers, and jungle hunters. Like Arti and her 15-year-old daughter Ananya from UP’s Bharatpur village, who were preparing the land for sowing in July amid the busy paddy season when it started raining heavily. Arti’s husband Mahendra Mishra, who was working on another field, rushed home and waited for them. “When they did not return for some time, my nephew and I went out to search. We found their bodies near the field. They had been struck by lightning,” he says in tears. Besides population density, research by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology suggests that topography makes certain areas more vulnerable to lightning strikes. Jharkhand, for instance, is close to Bay of Bengal and located in the Chhota Nagpur Plateau with an undulating landscape and tropical forests, while in Odisha open casting mining and industrialisation could impact the increase in strikes. This plays a vital role in creating weather variability, Srivastava, who is also chairman of the Climate Resilient Observing-Systems Promotion Council (CROPC) says.
CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT
In MP, where at least 80 people have been killed by lightning in July this year, it is a combination of an extremely hot summer followed by a heavy monsoon that often leads to a surge in lightning strikes. “If land gets hotter due to an excessively hot summer, and monsoon rain comes in contact with the baking earth, heat is transferred and lighting strikes begin within half an hour to three hours,” says a weather expert. The maximum deaths, 35, occurred in Jabalpur division, which has been tagged a ‘severe lightning vulnerable zone’, followed by Shahdol and Sagar divisions. Senior Met scientist (Bhopal circle) Ved Prakash Singh says that when south-easterly winds hit the Satpura Range, strong clouds develop due to local orographic (hill, mountain) factors, triggering a blaze of lightning strikes.
Former IMD director general K J Ramesh says global warming has an indirect bearing on lightning strikes as it impacts rain-bearing systems. “There is more lightning in August and September as these are months of heavy rain,” he explains.
