The amounts of lightning are increasing day by day but the initiatives of protection of lightning are yet not speedy.
A total eight people were killed in lightning strikes in five upazilas of Sylhet and Sunamganj on September 29.
According to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, 3,407 people died in lightning strikes in the country in 13 years from 2011 to 2023. In 15 districts prone to more lightning strikes, 567 people died in four years from 2018 to 2021. Ninety-three percent of the casualties were in rural areas.
There were no fatalities due to lightning in January this year. In the remaining eight months to September, 297 people were killed by lightning. Among them 11 children and 55 women. 6 out of 55 women are teenagers. Besides, 242 of the total deaths are male. The number of teenagers among them is 17. 152 farmers died due to lightning during farming alone. Among them, 18 people died just while bringing cows.
According to the Disaster Forum, from March to May 2023, 135 people died. The highest number of 11 people died in Sunamganj district at that time. And in April 31 farmers and in May 32 farmers died due to lightning. It has been seen that 20 of the 80 people who died in May this year were farmers.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief has already spent hundreds of crores to prevent lightning, but no expected results have been attained. It also proposed a new project at a cost of Tk 1,321 crore. But after considering all the considerations, the Planning Commission has agreed to provide only Tk 100 crore. This happened under the project 'Lightning prevention measures to prevent deaths due to lightning strikes in 15 districts of the country'. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Project Evaluation Committee of the Planning Commission recently.
According to the sources, the lightning rod should be placed higher than other buildings / structures located side by side. As the concept of setting up lightning rods is relatively new in the context of this country, it will be appropriate to set up piloting in high-risk districts for the time being. In that case, the DPP (Development Project Proposal) will have to be restructured by determining the proposed 15 districts and limiting the estimated cost of the project to a maximum of Tk 100 crore. The commission has recommended restructuring the DPP and sending it to the project planning commission again.
According to the Planning Commission, an inter-ministerial programming committee meeting was held to consider the inclusion of the project. In this meeting, it was recommended to implement the project as a pilot project before implementing it in a proposed way.
In this regard, the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief said that since the concept of taking lightning prevention measures is new, activities can be processed on a small scale in pilot form without implementing activities in 15 districts at this stage. In this case, the estimated cost of the project will also be reduced.
Md Sayeduzzaman, head (additional secretary) of the Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Institutions Division of the Planning Commission, said the disaster management department had proposed Tk 1,321 crore under the proposed project. However, as such a project is new, we have asked to limit it to Tk 100 crore as a pilot project. Let's see how it works first. If it is good, then it can be thought on a larger scale later.
He also said that it is important to protect people and livestock from lightning in 15 districts prone to lightning, as well as protection of infrastructure, electrical installations, electronic equipment from lightning and reduce damage to property. For this, the project has been proposed to install 6,793 lightning prevention systems and construct 3,398 safe shelters. The project will be implemented in 15 lightning prone districts. These are Sunamganj, Netrokona, Kishoreganj, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Sylhet, Tangail, Jamalpur, Mymensingh, Dinajpur, Pabna, Naogaon, Bogra, Chapainawabganj and Jamalpur.
He added that as the concept of setting up lightning rods is relatively new in the context of this country, the commission thinks it is appropriate to set up piloting in high-risk districts for the time being. In that case, the DPP will have to be restructured by determining the proposed 15 districts and limiting the estimated cost of the project to a maximum of Tk 100 crore, fixing a two-year period from July 2024 to June 2026.
In the meantime, the Department of Disaster Management under the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief will implement the project in 142 upazila of 15 districts of Dhaka, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Mymensingh and Sylhet divisions.
Rezwanur Rahman, director general of the Department of Disaster Management, said the number of deaths due to lightning is increasing every year. We are going to take a project to reduce the loss of life. It's in the very early stages. We have sent the project proposal to the Planning Commission.
Md Abdullah Al-Mamun, director (planning and development) of the Department of Disaster Management, told the Planning Commission that Bangladesh is one of the most disaster-prone and climate-vulnerable countries in the world. Due to its geographical location, the country has seen a significant increase in natural disasters such as floods, cyclones, tidal surges as well as recent natural disasters such as lightning. Under the project, a provision of Tk 175 crore for the footing foundation and Tk 229 crore for the construction of 1,699 safe shelters in 15 districts prone to more lightning has been set. As a result, Tk 10 lakh 33 thousand for the footing foundation and Tk 13.5 lakh for the pile foundation for each shelter center.
In May this year, 80 people died due to lightning in the country. In the previous two years, there were not so many deaths due to lightning in this month. This number is the third highest in May of the last seven years.
This year (till June 10) 128 people died in this disaster in the country. Deaths due to lightning usually occur in the month of November. 280 people died last year. In addition to May, now the number of deaths is increasing in June. It has been seen that among the people who died due to lightning, the number of farmers is high.
There are various government initiatives to reduce death due to lightning. It has already been declared a disaster. Still, the death rate is not decreasing. Bad projects, failure to stop felling of large trees and lack of efforts to create the necessary awareness are not preventing deaths—experts say.
The non-governmental organization Disaster Forum regularly monitors the country's lightning situation and casualties. According to the institute, from 2010 to 2023, 3 thousand 870 people died due to lightning. That is more than 276 people every year. The highest number of people died in 2021, at 381. A maximum of 120 people were killed by lightning in May of that year.
Earlier, the highest death toll was in May of 158 in 2018. There have never been so many deaths due to lightning in any one month in the country. 68 people died in May last year (2023) and 57 people died in May the year before that (2022).
Disaster expert Abdul Latif Khan believes that the number of deaths due to lightning is increasing day by day due to the destruction of large trees in the open wilderness and the lack of new protection measures. He said, "We are not protecting the old trees. Even if the trees are destroyed, there is no action against it. So where will the protection be?'
The study titled 'Recent Climatology of Thunderstorm Days over Bangladesh' published in The Atmosphere magazine highlights the situation of thunderstorms in Bangladesh. It has highlighted the data of thunderstorms in Bangladesh from 1981 to 2020. During this period, the highest number of thunderstorms occurred in the month of May. Its average number is 13. Next is the month of June, number 12. Thunderstorms will last until November.
Muhammad Abul Kalam Mallick, a meteorologist of the Department of Meteorology associated with this study, told Prothom Alo that the temperature is increasing. Not only during summer, the range of warmth is also expanding during monsoon. The number of thunderstorms is increasing in May. Thunderstorms are often accompanied by lightning.
It has been observed that Sylhet and Srimangal have the highest annual number of thunderstorm days. These numbers are 136 and 116 respectively.
Muhammad Abul Kalam Mallik thinks that there is a relationship between two socio-economic factors with the increase in death due to lightning in May. He was saying that a significant number of people who died due to lightning were farmers. Again, death due to lightning is more common in Haor area. April and May are usually the season for paddy harvesting. Farmers are killed by lightning while harvesting paddy in the almost treeless open desert.
In August 2015, the government declared it a disaster in the wake of an increase in lightning deaths. After that several projects were also taken to prevent death due to lightning. One of these was the planting of palm trees. The disaster management department planned to plant 40 lakh palm trees in that project, but it failed. In 2018, the Department of Meteorology took up the ``Lightning Detection Sensor'' project at a cost of Tk 62 crore. Then the sensors are destroyed. Directorate of Disaster Management is coming up with a project of 1 thousand 321 crore rupees. Lightning arresters will be installed under this, which will protect local people from lightning.
Experts say that actually taking up one project after another and wasting money has not reduced lightning deaths. There is also no research into new ways to prevent lightning deaths.
Protection from lightning is found by wearing rubber slippers during thunderstorms. Such practice has already started in Nepal. Highlighting this, disaster expert Gauhar Naeem Wara said, "After so many deaths, there is no effective research in our country." There is more interest in such projects where money is wasted.
The experts give 5 points of suggestions to reduce the number of deaths due to lightning. The suggestions are inclusion of chapters on lightning awareness in textbooks; Thunderstorms are forecast half an hour in advance, as reported by Govt Info; Organizing meetings, seminars and trainings to raise awareness among farmers and public; Setting up shelter centers in the field and providing free treatment to the injured.
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