Lok Sabha Question No. 5533 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-04-06
Subject: Death Due to Lightning Strikes
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: K. Subbarayan

- (a) Yes Sir.
- (b) Ministry  of  Earth  Sciences,  through  India  Meteorological  Department  (IMD),  issues forecast and warnings for thunderstorms and associated weather phenomena five days in advance with regular updates.

Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, an autonomous research institution  under  the  Ministry  of  Earth  Sciences  (MoES),  has  established  a  lightning location  network  strategically installed  at  83  places  in  the  country  to  detect  and  locate lightning strikes with utmost accuracy. Central processor of this network located at IITM, receives and processes the signal received from the network and identifies the location of lightning strikes with less than 500 m accuracy. The output from this network is shared with IMD and various State Governments and is used for nowcasting purposes.

From  National  Weather  Forecasting  Centre  in  IMD,  these  forecasts  and  warnings  are given in meteorological sub-divisional scale whereas State Meteorological Centres issue the  same  in  district  level.  In  addition  to  that,  thunderstorms  and  associated  disastrous weather  phenomena  are  covered  by  nowcast  (forecast  for  next  3  hours  issued  every  3 hours)  in  the  location/district  level  by  State  Meteorological  Centres.  At  present  this facility is extended to all the districts and for about 1084 stations across the country.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5533 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 6 TH  APRIL, 2022

## DEATH DUE TO LIGHTNING STRIKES

## 5533.   SHRI SUBBARAYAN K:

Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has noticed that lightning strikes has killed at least 2,000 people every year in India since 2004; and
- (b) if so, the preventive steps that have been taken/ being taken by the Government to reduce deaths due to lightning strikes in the country?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

In 2020, Damini Lightning apps was developed by IITM-Pune. The App is monitoring all lightning  activity  which  are  happening  over  India  and  alert  the  person  if  lightning  is happening near the person by GPS notification under 20KM and 40KM radius. Detailed description  of  instruction,  precautions  is  provided  in  the  mobile  app  while  in  lightning prone  area.  It  also  provides  the  lightning  warning  at  the  location  valid  for  next  40 minutes. There are more than 5 lakhs downloads of Damini app over India.

Apart  from  the  above,  National  Disaster  Management  authority  (NDMA)  has  taken effective steps for mitigation action in the concerned issues. NDMA  has  issued Guidelines  for  Action  Plan  on  Thunderstorm  &  Lightning/  Squall  and  Strong  wind  in 2018-2019  and  sent  to  all  State  Governments/  UTs  and  uploaded  on  the  website  of NDMA.

Further NDMA has taken initiatives as following:

-  NDMA issued specific advisories Do's and Don'ts on Thunderstorm and Lightning to State Governments/ UTs for taking necessary action.
-  NDMA  Reviewed  the  preparedness  &  mitigation  measures on  Thunderstorm  and Lightning through Video Conferencing (VC) with most affected States.
-  Develop a protocol for early warning dissemination on Thunderstorm and Lightning,
-  NDMA produced IEC materials like TVCs, Pocket Books containing do's and don'ts, audio-visuals on thunderstorm and lightning.
-  Special panel discussion (TV Debate) on 'AapdakaSaamna' show on Doordarshan.
-  Doordarshan and All India Radio - NDMA  has run campaign through TV (Doordarshan) and Radio (All India Radio) for awareness generation among masses on 'Thunderstorm  &  Lightning'  during April  2021 in  the  States  prone  to  the  disaster including North Eastern States and West Bengal.
-  Social  Media campaign  on  thunderstorm  and  lightning  are  being  conducted  by NDMA. Do's and don'ts  are  being  shared  on  NDMA's  social  media  platforms and videos are being continuously posted on twitter and facebook.

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