India's deadly killer: Bihar, MP are worst hit by lightning deaths

On 13 July, CNN, The Washington Post, and a host of other foreign publications noted incredulously that at least 65 people had been killed by lightning strikes and thunderstorms on one day in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh alone. In Rajasthan, 23 died after lightning hit Amer Fort — a popular tourist spot on the outskirts of the city, according to Shankar Lal Saini, a senior disaster management official in Jaipur.

“There was a tower there. When the lightning struck, the tower’s wall collapsed, many people were buried under it. Since the fort is on a hill, when the debris was falling and space reduced, some people also fell into a ditch,” Saini was quoted as telling CNN.

The incident may have been an aberration. But lightning is the biggest killer among all forces of nature. This has been proved year after year, as noted in data in statistics provided by the National Crime Records Bureau’s annual publication, Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India.

According to the 2019 report, out of 8,145 accidental deaths due to forces of nature, 35.3 per cent deaths were due to ‘Lightning’ (2,876 deaths), 15.6 per cent deaths due to ‘Heat/Sun Stroke’ (1,274 deaths), 11.6 per cent deaths due to ‘Flood (948 deaths) and 9.8 per cent deaths due to ‘Exposure to Cold’ (796 deaths). ‘Landslide’ and ‘Cyclone’ caused 3.2 per cent (264 deaths) and 0.4 per cent (33 deaths) of total deaths due to forces of nature respectively, says the report.

State-wise figures show Bihar and Madhya Pradesh are worst hit by lightning deaths. The worst part of it is, there is no way of preventing these deaths.