Odisha reported 1,625 human deaths due to lightning strikes, the highest in the country in the last five years, informed Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari in the State Assembly on Thursday.
The state has logged the highest lightning-induced fatalities in the country during 2019-20 and 2023-24. As the state is endowed with mineral deposits, it is being believed that lightning fatalities are occurring here because minerals are good conductors of electricity, the Minister said.
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The minister in a written reply to a query by BJP MLA Tankadhar Tripathy informed the House that a total of 1,625 people were killed by lightning strikes across the state during 2019-20 and 2023-24.
While 372 persons died due to lightning strikes during the financial year 2019-20, 338 such death cases were reported in 2020-21 and 294 during 2021-22.
The state has reported 334 lightning death cases in 2022-23 and another 287 such death cases during 2023-24, Pujari said in a written reply to the House.
Each year the State records a whopping six lakh lightning strikes on an average with Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh and Balasore districts reporting maximum strikes.
The Government has launched Satark App for disseminating early warning on possible lightning strikes with technical support from the Indian Institute of tropical meteorology (IITM)’s real-time data.
Lightning was declared as a State specific disaster from 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 chief minister’s relief fund or district gratuitous relief fund.
