Effective measures needed to protect people from lightning disasters

Bangladesh, due to its geographical location, is one of the countries’ most prone to lightning strikes worldwide.

According to Disaster Preparedness Forum, a non-governmental organisation that regularly monitors the country’s lightning situation and casualties, 4,158 people died in lightning strikes in 14 years from 2010-24.

That is, an average of 297 people died in lightning strikes every year. However, the figure jumped to 305 in recent years.

What is of great concern is that about 70 percent of those killed in lightning strikes every year are involved in farming and fishing works.

The pre-monsoon season and the rainy season are characterised by high temperatures and frequent lightning strikes due to intense solar radiation. Farmers and fishermen are particularly vulnerable to lightning.

But there is no compensation, assistance or insurance for farmers and fishermen’s families.

They do not even receive social security benefits. According to a report published in a national newspaper yesterday, the government has spent a lot of money planting palm trees and installing lightning rods to prevent deaths from lightning strikes. But nothing has worked.

The Disaster Management Department in November last year has taken a programme to install 336 lightning rods in 135 upazilas of 15 lightning-prone districts of the country at a cost of 19.5 crore taka. Of them, 309 have been installed.

Even after a long time, there has been no significant success in combating lightning. Rather, the scale of failure is becoming heavier.

Meteorologists have been saying that the northern, northeastern, and northwestern regions of Bangladesh are the most lightning-prone areas. More casualties from lightning occur in the haor areas.

Countries around the world have significantly reduced the number of lightning casualties by using information technology or effective strategies.

While an average of 297 people die from lightning strikes each year in the country, less than 20 people die from lightning strikes in the United States each year.

Here, only projects have been taken to protect against lightning, but in many cases they have not seen the light of day.

The country’s agricultural sector is already under pressure from various sources. Production is being disrupted due to climate change, rising prices of agricultural inputs, and land shortages.

In such a situation, the death of farmers due to lightning can lead to a deep crisis. This will create a risk to food security.

To avoid such a situation, there is no alternative to adopting a science-based plan to prevent lightning strikes and implementing it quickly. In addition, that plan must be long-term and sustainable to protect agriculture.