Lightning strikes kill 177 in 4 months: Study

At least 177 people were killed and 47 others injured in lightning strikes in the country in four months from March to June this year, finds a study by Save the Society and Thunderstorm Awareness Forum (SSTAF).

Among the deceased, 149 were male and 28 female. Most of the victims of lightning strikes were farmers who died while working on the field.

The SSTAF study unveiled at the press conference on Friday also said lightning strikes killed at least 65 people in the first week of the running month alone.  

The organisation conducted this study by compiling information collected from different print, electronic and online media as well as from their own field workers.

"We found Sirajganj as the lightning hotspot. Eighteen people have died in the district in this month alone", said SSTAF Secretary Md Rashim Mollah.

The organisation's President Prof Dr Kabirul Bashar said, "We have changed our environment by wrongdoings – we cut trees like palm trees and betel-nut trees which works as savior from the lightning."

"Besides, incidents of lightning strikes have increased manifold in the country due to the global warming," he added.

At the programme, the experts demanded that the Bangladesh Meteorological Department introduce a mobile messaging system through which they can alert people immediately after realising that lightning can strike a particular area. Currently meteorologists can predict about lightning 15 minutes before it strikes the ground.

"The government declared it as natural disaster," Dr Bashar said, adding, "But there is meagre allotment to address the disaster." 

He demanded that the authority builds shelters in the field areas as mostly the farmers are victims of lightning strikes.

He also demanded that the authority concerned eliminates tax on importing equipment's for thunder protection and makes it mandatory to establish thunder protection system in each house in the country.