NEW DELHI: Lightning strikes in the country have seen an alarming increase in the last four years as an aftermath of climate change, according to data from the Lightning Detection Network of Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology.
While there has been a 53 per cent rise in lightning strikes between 2019 and 2023 across the country, in some states the increase has been more than 300 per cent, according to data.
The lightning strikes have increased from 1.38 crore in 2019-20 to 2 crore in 2022-23. Lightning can be Inter-cloud or cloud-to-ground. Scientists are concerned about the rise in cloud-to-ground lightning, which causes immense damage to human lives and properties.
“Our data shows that cloud-to-ground lightning strikes rose from 51.6 lakh to 72.6 lakh in the last three years, which is a concern,” said Sanjay Srivastava, convenor of the Lightning Resilient India campaign.
The eastern and central Indian states are the most vulnerable when it comes to lightning-related incidents and tribal groups feature top among the socio-economic groups affected.
Central Indian states such as Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh and eastern states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha are the most vulnerable regions, witnessing a rise in both lightning strikes and mortality.
Most of the casualties take place among tribals, especially in Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Odisha, says data. Their housing patterns and subsistence on the land are cited as reasons.
Furthermore, the region between the central river basin between the Ganges, Sone and Mahanadi, and mountain ranges Vindhyachal, Satpura, Kaimur and Vidarbha cover the zones most prone to lightning.
There has been around 75 per cent rise in casualties in only eight states located in the vulnerable zones in the past two decades. Madhya Pradesh tops the list of casualties, followed by Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
The increase in lightning strikes is the fierce declaration of the impact of climate change, say experts.
“Lightning constitutes two major elements, moisture and heat,” explained Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general of meteorology, India Meteorological Department.
“Global warming has fuelled a rise in heat, resulting in increased surface sea temperature and melting of ice in the Himalayas causing extreme moisture in the atmosphere,” he added.
Scientists say lightning-related casualties are totally preventable. Recently, states like Odisha and Andhra Pradesh reduced nearly 70 per cent of such incidents within a relatively shorter timeframe.
These states strengthened their lightning detection instruments and public alert systems, and popularised DAMINI, a dedicated app to track and issue warnings of lightning strikes.