Safety against Lightning - An Indian Perspective

Lightning is a natural phenomenon where the charge generated due to cloud / air movement and other turbulent atmospheric conditions get down to the earth through a conductive path with disastrous direct and indirect effects. The direct effect being the high current (in the range of several thousands of kilo amperes) passing through structures or equipment or humans and the indirect effects being temporary rise of equipment voltages for a very short duration, known as surges. these surges can affect power cables, data / telephone cables and instrumentation wiring, causing anything from data loss to the total destruction of equipment. These are indirect effects of lightning that destroy sophisticated equipment, especially the sensitive electronic equipment. Typical causes include fluorescent light switching, blown fuses and nearby lightning activity. The effects of these surges & transients are not always visible. Burnt / charred Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) or malfunctioning software, etc. are indications of the effect of surge / transients.

The amount of loss of human life and properties due to lightning is significantly high. It is found in the recent years that lightning kills more people each year than tornadoes or hurricanes globally.

Apart from human lives, economical resources like cultivated fields, buildings, infrastructures, communication networks, power plants, trees and farm lands etc are often destructed by lightning events.

Lightning Strike on Major Indian Cities

The Average numbers of Thunderstorm Days (ATD) in a year for the important major cities of India are given below. The map showing average number of thunderstorm days in a year in India.

Damages due to Lightning in India

The Number of deaths, injuries and damages to properties due to lightning is high in India. It is a major concern that several fatalities are being reported due to lightning from its North Eastern states every year.

According to the National Crime Record Bureau, India in the year 2001 around 1507 persons died because of lightning. In Orissa alone, about 277 persons were killed by lightning in 2004 and also, it is reported by the state government in Orissa that during 2001-2004, around 900 persons were killed only due to thunderstorms.

69 persons were reported to be killed by lightning from various parts of Maharashtra state in the same period. Around 11 persons were killed and 100 were injured in lightning incidents in Madhya Pradesh state and 11 persons were killed in Jharkhand state during April and May, 2006.
Electrical equipments worth Rs. 2 lakhs, were damaged, when lightning struck the house of Volga Crasta at Kallianpur, Karnataka in October, 2006.

The telecommunication network in Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh was paralyzed after lightning struck the main telephone exchange at Jassur on 2 March, 2007. The lightning damaged telecommunication equipments worth lakhs of rupees in the main telephone exchange. 15000 telephone lines out of 24, 000 lines were out of gear and 29 telephone exchanges of Kangra district remained suspended with headquarters at Dharamsala. These statistics indicate the severity of lightning strikes.

It is necessary to pay the highest attention to lightning because the vast majority of the lightning disasters can be easily, efficiently and inexpensively avoided.