The killer bolt

Lightning strikes have become India's deadliest weather hazard, and how

- RAMANI RANJAN MOHAPATRA

Between April and July this year alone, 1,621 people died due to rain and lightning strikes, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai told the Rajya Sabha last week, citing inputs from states and union territories. The toll includes 100 deaths between April 10 and April 12, when lightning storms over Bihar and Uttar Pradesh killed mostly farmers working in open fields, according to reports.

This is part of a disturbing pattern: lightning has claimed more lives annually than any other extreme weather event.

In 2024, about 1,300 people died due to lightning, according to the World Meteorological Organisation's State of the Climate in Asia report. From 1967 to 2020, lightning killed over 101,000 people in India, National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data shows. Between 2002 and 2024, lightning accounted for nearly 46 per cent of all weather-related deaths in the country, according to the NCRB data.

Figures from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Climate Resilient Observing-Systems Promotion Council (CROPC) reveal that lightning strikes have surged by 400 per cent to over 20 million in FY25 from 5.17 million in FY20. Most lightning-related deaths occur traditionally in eastern India where strikes are more frequent and coincide with peak agricultural activity, particularly paddy sowing during July and August, leaving farmers highly vulnerable.

Expanding lightning zones and climate change link

Experts said climate change is extending lightning-prone areas into central, northern, north-eastern, and coastal regions, and even the Himalayan foothills. For example, Madhya Pradesh has overtaken Odisha as the most lightning-affected state, while Rajasthan's Bikaner and Churu districts have emerged as the top hotspots, followed by Odisha's Mayurbhanj and Gujarat's Kutch, according to the IMD-CROPC report.