As many as 19 people were killed in lightning strikes in Bangladesh on Wednesday. The incidence of lightning and deaths caused by the disaster have increased over the years due to global warming and climate change leading to increasing frequency of storms. According to disaster management and relief statistics, 2,328 people have been killed in the last 10 years since 2020. The highest number of 359 people were killed in 2018.
Farmers, fishermen and others who have to work in open fields, especially in haors, usually become victims of lightning strikes. Experts said worldwide temperatures are increasing, which is one of the main reasons for increased incidents of thunderstorms and lightning in Bangladesh. Other reasons include the lack of big trees in rural areas, especially on roadsides, and the lack of lightning arresters in buildings. Some 10 haors – in Sunamganj, Habiganj, Kishoreganj, Netrakona, Sylhet, Chapainawabganj, Chattogram, Naogaon, Dinajpur and Sirajganj – are considered the top 10 areas with maximum risk of lightning.
Experts say two or three days before and after a cyclone are the riskiest times in terms of lightning strikes. The government will have to identify those days as “lightning days” and instruct people not to go out to fields during that time unless it is an emergency. The Met Office can detect lightning a day before and should make people aware of it.
The government recently decided to set up warning systems in 723 lightning-prone areas in the country. It has also planned to set up lightning shelters, like cyclone shelters, at empty spaces and to send mobile messages 40 minutes before lightning strikes. In December 2016, the government had taken an initiative to plant 38 lakh palm trees. However, as the trees died due to a lack of care and maintenance, the initiative has borne no fruit.
We need to plant palm, betel nut and coconut trees on the roadsides in rural areas to protect people from lightning strikes. The government will have to ensure the setting up of lightning arresters on top of every building in urban as well as rural areas making this mandatory. We cannot stay nonchalant to the growing threat of lightning.
