Vulnerability to Lightning

It is commonly known that lightning strikes occur in both time and space all across the planet. However, there is a dearth of knowledge regarding how lightning affects people in the underdeveloped countries. The number of fatalities and injuries worldwide is reportedly between 6000 and 24,000 every year.

• Lightning is the most significant cause of accidental deaths due to natural causesin India, accounting for an average of 2,000-2,500 deaths per year.
• Scientists in India cannot study lightning because there is insufficient data, and lightning events have not been tracked efficiently. Only a single group of researchers works full-time on thunderstorms and lightning at the Indian Institute of Tropical Management (IITM) in Pune.
• In India, there are quite a few thunderstorms each year. Each storm can produce dozens or even hundreds of lightning strikes. A researcher from IITM says,  “Lightning incidents have been showing an increasing trend over the last 20 years, especially near the Himalayan foothills”.

Due to extensive exposure during labor-intensive agriculture during the day when thunderstorms are most common and while residing in lightning-unsafe buildings at night, lightning sensitivity is still a significant problem in many developing countries.