The lightning that claimed six lives in a temple in Mysuru district on Friday was not just a bolt from the blue. A neglected natural disaster, lightning has claimed more lives in Karnataka than floods and heatstroke combined over the years.
But, what if villagers could be warned of the strikes in advance? Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) hopes to set up a system in two months that will predict with relative accuracy where and when lightning will strike.
KSNDMC has issued orders to procure 12 sensors, to be imported from the U.S., that will be capable of detecting thunderstorms and predicting lightning strikes within 1 sq km radius. Lightning activity can be forecast up to an hour ahead, giving residents time to be safe.
“We have placed orders and depending on customs clearances, it can be set up in two months and we can be prepared before the next thunderstorm activities in pre-monsoon showers. As each sensor will cover 100 sq km area, the entire State will be covered,” said G.S. Srinivasa Reddy, Director, KSNDMC. The project costs around than ₹50 lakh.
Karnataka will be the second State, after Andhra Pradesh, to implement the system. However, the difference, says Mr. Reddy, is that care will be taken to avoid the mistakes of the neighbouring State to disseminate information. “Our established call centre has the numbers of officials and even over 200 farmers in every village in the State. Once a lightning warning comes, information can be disseminated easily,” he said, adding that the warnings would be linked to an app for officials and citizens to view.
For years, lightning and its devastation has gone under the radar, even though its deadliness can be seen in stark numbers. This year, 73 people have lost their lives owing to lightning, a staggering 71% of all deaths categorised as “rain-related”.
The National Crime Records Bureau states that between 2010 and 2015 over 708 people died from lightning, while floods claimed 66 lives in Karnataka. Since 2009, Karnataka Disaster Management Authority notes relief has been given in 593 “confirmed” cases of lightning strikes (after post-mortem report is submitted).
“Despite widespread damage and deaths, it is not taken seriously...There are disaster management authorities, but the largest chunk of this disaster is through lightning and nothing has been done about it,” says Naveen Chandra, who did his doctoral research on lightning damage after he saw that losses by BSNL alone in Karkala taluk of Udupi was ₹60 lakh annually.
Why some districts are more prone to lightning
For people in Kalaburagi and surrounding areas, the threat is lightning is far more than those in Bengaluru or Kolar.
Data by Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) show that 15% of all lightning deaths are in Kalaburagi and Yadgir districts, while the entire Cauvery catchment area of six southern districts comprise barely 10% of the nearly 593 deaths recorded since 2009.
The key to this may be soil, said Naveen Chandra whose doctoral research focussed on soil types and lightning. “When we looked at Karkala taluk (Udupi district), we found out that areas with iron ore composition, such as Kudremukh, attracted more lightning. As mining depleted this iron ore, lightning strikes reduced too, while areas of soil with high resistivity continued to get higher incidence of lightning strikes,” he said.
Working with K. Lokesh from National Institute of Technology-Surathkal, Mr. Chandra used a geophysical sensor to map the soil types in Karkala taluk in Udupi district.
