Bhubaneswar: For some strange reasons, Mayurbhanj and Ganjam districts of Odisha have set a record in alleged lightning deaths in the past five years.
A study of alleged lightning deaths conducted between 2017-18 and 2021-22 has revealed that Mayurbhanj district has recorded 161 lightning deaths, the highest number of fatalities followed by Ganjam’s 123 incidents. On the contrary, Boudh registers the lowest lightning deaths (12) followed by Gajapati (13) during the corresponding five-year period.
As many as 54 lightning deaths were reported in Mayurbhanj in 2017-18, 39 in 2018-19, 29 in 2019-20 and 30 in 2020-21. However, the district recorded only nine deaths in the current monsoon months of the year so far.
Ganjam district reported 33 lightning deaths in 2017-18 while the figure fell to 21 the following year and 15 in the year 2021-22.
The figures of alleged lightning mishaps were revealed from the answers given to members’ questions in the ongoing state Assembly session.
Odisha, being an agrarian state, most of the lightning fatalities occur during the farming months between May and September when the cultivators and farm hands are out in the open. In the absence of adequate irrigational facilities across the state, the agrarian community invariably depends on the arrival of monsoons to launch farming activities.
According to an estimate, 85 per cent (1069) of lightning deaths occurred in the state between May and September. Interestingly, the changing weather pattern is stated to be the sole reason for the lightning storms in Odisha. Moreover, the coastal region is most vulnerable to repeated cyclonic storms from the Bay of Bengal. The weather scientists have also found that the amount of aerosol in the air has increased in the past few years leading to alarming lightning strikes, some of which go unreported.
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