A strong lightning policy is an urgent need of the hour

In recent years, lightning has emerged as a natural hazard in Bangladesh, with over 300 annual fatalities, primarily affecting farmers in the rural areas.

Lightning was formally declared a natural disaster in 2016 and incorporated into the National Plan for Disaster Management (NPDM) 2021-2025, but the annual death tolls have continued to exceed year after year.

According to a report published in this newspaper yesterday, at least 14 people were killed in lightning strikes across seven districts of the country on Sunday.

Among them, five were killed in Gaibandha; two each in Thakurgaon, Sirajganj and Jamalpur; and one each in Panchagarh, Bogura, and Natore.

As of 18 April this year, 60 deaths were already reported. Most of victims are farmers and fishermen working in open fields across the country.

Moreover, lightning strikes also kill livestock, damage homes, and cause fires. But there is no comprehensive national data capturing these losses.

For many rural households, livestock is the primary store of wealth as well as economic security.

And the absence of systematic accounting means that the full economic burden of lightning remains underestimated.

Scientists have linked the increasing death toll to climate change, deforestation, and the lack of tall trees and highlighted a critical need for enhanced early warning systems, lightning-resilient infrastructure, and public awareness.

The increasing frequency of lightning, now intensified by global warming and changing landscapes, requires an urgent, coordinated policy response to protect lives.

To them, environmental and land-use changes also play a role in further amplifying exposure.

In the haor regions, the cutting down of tall trees to expand agricultural land has eliminated natural conductors that previously helped dissipate lightning discharges.

As a result, farmers and fishers working in open fields and wetlands have effectively become the “tallest objects” in the landscape.

This persistence of high casualties indicates a lack of proper policy recognition that would translate into effective protection for those most vulnerable to this hazard.

Strengthening protective measures, raising public awareness, and promoting safer practices must become integral to disaster management efforts.

Overall, a broader public commitment is a must to live in harmony with nature rather than in defiance of it.

Although Bangladesh has taken some steps to mitigate lightning risks, much more needs to be done, if the annual fatality rates are taken into consideration.

We need a coherent policy framework that integrates early warning, infrastructural support, and social protection.

As climatic conditions continue to intensify, failure to respond properly will continue to result in deaths and destruction, and our rural economy will continue to suffer disproportionately.