Last year Andhra Pradesh recorded approximately 36000 lightning strikes over a period of 13 hours. There have been several instances where people have been killed due to lightning strikes across Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.

Lightning strikes tend to affect the tropics more as the heat creates the energy required for a lightning storm.

When air rises and falls within a thunderstorm, positive and negative charges form in the cloud. The bottom of the thundercloud has a negative charge, and the top has a positive charge. A flash of lightning happens when a charge becomes so strong that the air can’t stop it from jumping from the cloud to the ground, which has a positive charge. Lightning can also form inside the cloud or between two clouds, moving between the positively and negatively charged areas. 

Preventive measures:

• Mapping of Lightning affected zones on the basis of availability of data of deaths and injured persons and data of lightning incidence
• Sharing of data between different agencies for preparation of mitigation plan
• Lightning strike warning system that would inform people of impending disaster.
• Structural protection measure like Lightening shields for buildings and other structures.
• Promote installations of lightning arresters and Doppler Radars
• Education and awareness on how to safely respond to lightning storms.
• Use of social media to effectively deliver the warnings.

Conclusion:

Lightening is an extreme weather event which can cause disaster if proper measures are not taken. Awareness coupled with technological initiatives like development of app called Vajrapath that can predict where lightning will strike based on an analysis of electromagnetic waves, can go a long way in reducing lightening related causalities.