• Experts at the 9th National Lightning Conference warned that lightning remains India’s deadliest yet underestimated natural disaster, despite a sharp rise in strikes due to climate change.

Lightning an understated disaster in India:

• Lightning is a rapid electrostatic discharge between clouds or between cloud and ground, accompanied by thunderstorms, intense rainfall, winds and sometimes hail. It is sudden, highly localised and instantly lethal, making mitigation challenging compared to slow-onset disasters.

Trends in India

• Lightning is the single largest killer natural hazard in India, causing over 2,000 deaths annually.
• India has witnessed a approx. 400% rise in lightning strikes (2019–2025), with a 7–14% annual increase linked to warming.
• New hotspots have emerged in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi, alongside persistent vulnerability in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha.

Why lightning remains ignored as a disaster?

• Dispersed nature: Lightning fatalities occur as scattered, single-event incidents across villages and fields, preventing media visibility and policy recognition that usually follows large, concentrated disasters.
• Low visibility of damage: Unlike floods or cyclones, lightning rarely leaves large-scale structural destruction, leading to underestimation of its cumulative human and economic toll.
• Data and research gaps: Inadequate ground-based sensors, electric-field meters and testing laboratories limit precise mapping, forecasting and scientific understanding of lightning behaviour.
• Last-mile communication failures: Although forecasts exist, warnings often fail to trigger timely behavioural change at the village level due to language, access and institutional gaps.
• Perception bias: Lightning is widely viewed as an unavoidable “act of nature” rather than a disaster that can be mitigated through science, planning and awareness.

Implications of rising lightning risk

• Human loss: Farmers, labourers, fishermen and pastoral communities working outdoors face disproportionate mortality, making lightning a livelihood-linked hazard.
• Economic damage: Lightning damages crops, livestock, power lines, telecom towers and buildings, imposing recurring but underreported economic losses.
• Climate linkage: Rising atmospheric electricity correlates with cloudbursts, extreme rainfall and floods, amplifying compound climate risks.
• Regional vulnerability: Semi-arid, plateau and hilly regions with limited shelters and warning infrastructure face increasing exposure and fatalities.

NDMA guidelines and initiatives on lightning

• Early warning systems: IMD provides location-specific lightning forecasts up to 48 hours through Damini, Mausam and Sachet apps for timely alerts.
• Public advisories: NDMA has issued standardised do’s and don’ts to reduce risky behaviour during thunderstorms and lightning events.
• Community-centric approach: Training programmes for disaster managers, volunteers and panchayats aim to convert warnings into early action.
• Lightning Resilient India Campaign: Focuses on nationwide awareness, education, capacity-building and local mitigation strategies.
• Mitigation Project on Lightning Safety (MPLS): Targets high-risk states and districts with risk mapping, electric-field meters, alert poles and lightning protection in schools and anganwadis.

Why lightning must be formally recognised as a disaster?

• Highest mortality hazard: Lightning kills more people annually than any other natural hazard in India, warranting priority disaster status.
• Climate change amplifier: Rising temperatures directly increase lightning frequency, making future risks systemic rather than episodic.
• Preventable deaths: Evidence shows that early warnings combined with behavioural change can sharply reduce fatalities.
• Localised governance need: Formal recognition enables funding, district-level action plans and Gram Panchayat integration.
• Disaster risk reduction alignment: Inclusion aligns India’s policy framework with the Sendai Framework’s emphasis on early warning and resilience.

Conclusion

• Lightning is no longer a sporadic weather hazard but a climate-driven, nationwide disaster with severe human costs. Treating it as a mainstream disaster can unlock better science, funding and local preparedness. Integrating lightning risk into disaster management plans is essential to save lives in a warming India.