89 killed in lightning strikes in Madhya Pradesh in 6 months of 2020: IMD

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The IMD has alerted that due to

the environmental changes, the threat of lightning during the current monsoon season has increased in Madhya Pradesh, where 89 people lost their lives due to lightning strikes in the first six months of this year.

This figure of lightning strike victims in the state till June this year is more than what it was during the entire year in 2019, an official said.

"In the current monsoon season, the threat of lightning strikes has increased as compared to last year due to the environmental changes," India Meteorological Department (IMD) senior scientist, Vedprakash Singh Chandel, told PTI on Wednesday.

"Because of this, the wind speed during thunderstorm and hailstorm was found significantly high," he said.

According to the official, in the last six months- from January to June- 89 people were killed in lightning strikes, as compared to 82 in entire 2019.

Citing the figures of the last 30 years, Chandel said, "Due to the environmental changes, extreme weather conditions prevailed in the state, which resulted in heavy and strong rains in shorter duration, while the days of incessant rains have decreased."

He said that the maximum effect of this was observed in Jabalpur, Rewa and Shahdol divisions, while it was comparatively less in Indore and Hoshangabad divisions. In the rest of the state, it had moderate effect.

The senior scientist said that because of heavy rains with thunderstorms, the threat of trees and weak buildings collapsing has also increased.

After the Met department's warning, the state disaster management authority has recommended fixing of lightning conductors on the building that are three-storey or above.

It also urged the government to send alerts issued by the IMD up to the panchayat level, so that chances of loss of life and property due to lightning gets reduced.