MORTALITY OF LIGHTNING HAZARD AND ITS MANAGEMENT IN INDIA

India is the most disaster - prone country in the world. Nearly 85% geographical area and more than 50 million people of India are in vulnerable state by one or multiple hazard. Lightning, an extreme event, has emerged as a major weather-related hazard with changing climatic conditions of tropical and sub-tropical countries. It is a massive electrostatic discharge caused by the circulation of warm moisture-filled air through unbalanced electric field in the atmosphere, accompanied by the loud sound of thunder. It is hazardous which affects lives, livelihoods and property. Every year more than 2,500 people in our country die due to lightning. In this paper an attempt has been made to analyse the spatio-temporal variations of lightning mortality in Indian context for last five decades. Assessment of lightning-mortality statistics and its comparison with other major natural disasters reveal that lightning ranks number one amongst all natural disasters in India. On the basis of available secondary data, the geographical distribution of lightning incidents along with the States which have the most lightning casualties have been identified in this study. Though lightning is a widespread disaster in India in terms of mortality and losses, but it has drawn a little attention. In this paper, I have tried to highlight the neglected dimensions of disaster compensation acts and rules related to lightning. This is the high time for reorientation of perceptions on disaster insurances, government funding and management for the people affected by lightning. The findings of this study will help such unnoticed and unrecognised problems