Lighting and thunder squalls since long have been playing havoc with the people of Bankura, claiming dozens of lives each year. This has prompted folk artists to come forward generating mass awareness to prevent untimely deaths.
Most of the victims of lightning and thunderbolts in south Bengal districts, as environment experts claimed, have happened due to lack of awareness about ‘highly unsafe’ zones during such catastrophic conditions.
In Bankura, 33 persons died due to lighting in 2023 and the recorded figure between 1 April and mid of September 2024 was 16. “It’s reduced almost to half this year, compared to last year and we’ve extended extensive mass awareness campaigns in schools, colleges, public places and even in panchayats to make people understand about ‘do’s & don’ts during bad weather, which possibly has started yielding results,” Siyad N, DM, Bankura told The Statesman.
He added, “In Khatra sub-division alone, we’ve organised nearly 80 awareness programmes about prevention from lightning and snakebites.”
The Bengal government has started disbursing Rs 2 lakh as ex-gratia amount as compensation for each lightning casualty, incidentally.
Bankura recorded most of the lightning deaths either in farmlands, beneath the trees. “Such deaths could be prevented had they followed certain common measures by not standing under trees or not handling metal objects like spades while working during storms,” said Gautam Ganguly, chief of ‘My Dear Trees and Wild’, a ministry of culture assigned agency in Bankura.