Lightning strikes: India’s hidden killer

Lightning strikes kill more people in India than any other natural disaster.

There are more weatherstorms in the country due to the heat and humidity triggered by proximity to the equator and the Indian Ocean, according to a 2019 report by Earth Networks. But one of the reasons why more people are dying is because of the lack of public awareness.

Odisha is among the states with a large number of such deaths. As per the Odisha Special Relief Commissioner’s report, 1,454 people have died due to lightning in the last five years.

We spoke to experts, officials and families of the victims to understand the scale of the problem and how it can be tackled.

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