Odisha Signs MoU For Early Lightning Warning

Bhubaneswar: To bring down the lightning death toll in the state, the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) on Wednesday signed a MoU with Earth Networks, a US-based company, the largest global hyper-local weather network which provides weather intelligence data to help automate decision-making.

The MoU was signed between Bishnupada Sethi, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) on behalf of OSDMA, and the senior official of Earth Network in presence of Revenue and Disaster Management minister Maheswar Mohanty at the State Secretariat here.

With the ‘Total Lightning Based Early Warning System’, accurate prediction of lightning strike at specific locations can be made about 45 minutes in advance.

The prediction will be disseminated through mass messaging and mobile-based application among people to take precautionary measures and save lives.

On an average, lightning claims 400 human lives in Odisha every year.

A total of 456 people were killed during 2017-18, which is 15% more compared to last year.