Jajpur: Natural calamities and Odisha seem to go hand in hand. The state has repeatedly been hit by cyclones, floods, droughts, and lightning, and many lives have been lost. However, lightning deaths have really become a matter of concern in the state with 400 or more lives lost annually. Since the Super Cyclone in 1999, lightning strikes have claimed over 5,000 lives to date in Odisha. Since 2015-16, on average, 400 or more people have died due to lightning.
A total of 474 people were killed in lightning in 2017-18, which is 18.5% more than the deaths registered in 2016-17. The victims usually are farmers, vendors, hawkers, and construction workers – people who work in the open. Government sources said that deaths due to lightning is 25 per cent more than the loss of lives in other natural calamities. Officials pointed out that developing awareness about lightning strikes is the only possible measure to bring down the death rate. Lightning deaths are a major challenge for the administration.
Many have alleged that the lives of common people have been pushed into peril due to the lack of proper weather forecasts. The Odisha government declared lightning deaths as a state-specific disaster in 2015 and formed an executive committee to save people from lightning on the basis of the Disaster Management Act-2005. As part of this move, the affected families are provided with Rs 4 lakh financial assistance. The committee for 2023-24, in its first meeting, held May 2, decided to undertake a special awareness drive in 10 districts where maximum lightning deaths have occurred. They are Mayurbhanj, Ganjam, Keonjhar, Balasore, Cuttack, Sundargarh, Nabarangpur, Jajpur, Bolangir and Koraput.
Officials said a sum of Rs 1.14 crore will be spent for creating awareness about lightning in the above-mentioned 10 districts. Funds will be spent on preparing posters, conducting awareness campaigns, and staging street plays, paintings, and plays – all to educate the people about lightning strikes. Lawyer Chandrasekhar Panda, a resident of Jajpur Road said lightning deaths have increased due to lack of green cover. He alleged that the mindless felling of trees is taking place on the pretext of development, but at the same time, fresh saplings are not being planted leading to lightning deaths. Panda pointed out lightning deaths can be substantially reduced if there is a proper system of weather forecasts. He, however, added that the administration lacks the proper know-how to correctly predict weather movements.
Eminent trade union leader Mayadhar Nayak said lightning deaths are a man-made disaster due to a lack of proper awareness programmes. He said the clearing of forests along with the growth of concrete jungles has led to climate change and an increase in pollution levels which in turn has led to the rise in lightning strikes. He said despite awareness programs, people are still not cautious about which lightning deaths are increasing in Odisha. When contacted, district emergency officer Umesh Chandra Lenka said that it is very difficult to predict when lightning will occur. However, whatever information is available is immediately released to the tehsildars and block development officers (BDOs) in rural areas to undertake preventive steps before the lightning strikes.