PATNA: Lightning strikes killed 18 people in nine districts of Bihar on Monday.
At least 216 people have been killed in lightning strikes in the state this year so far.
The districts from where lightning deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours included Purnia (4), Araria (4), Supaul (3), Jamui (2), and one each in Banka, Begusarai, Sheikhpura, Nawada and Saran, an official at state control room of disaster management department here said on Monday evening.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar expressed grief over the deaths due to lightning and thunderstorm and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh for the family members of each of the victims.
Patna meteorological centre issued a warning for thunderstorms with lightning likely at isolated places over all the districts of south Bihar on Tuesday.
Ashish Kumar Singh, an official at Patna meteorological centre, attributed the lightning incidents to formation of thunderclouds due to a cyclonic circulation over Bay of Bengal.
“The lightning incident primarily occurred in south and east Bihar. It basically occurred due to atmospheric disturbance caused by mixing of moist air coming from the cyclonic circulation over northwest and adjoining west- central Bay of Bengal with dry air in rain starved areas in south and east Bihar,” Singh said, adding that warning has been issued for thunderstorm and lightning in south Bihar on Tuesday as well.
Lightning incidents and the resultant deaths have become quite frequent in Bihar in the recent years. More than 900 people died due to lightning strikes in the last two years.
Experts attribute the frequent lightning strikes to geographical positioning of Bihar along with global warming factors. The highest number of deaths has been observed in the month of July.
India Meteorological Department (IMD)’s director general Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, during his Patna visit last Friday, had said a warning for lightning is being issued three hours in advance. “A mobile and computer application Damini has also been developed for the purpose of issuing warnings for lightning strikes,” he said.
Rainfall likely to continue for 4 days:
Light to moderate rainfall occurred in different parts of the state, including Patna on Monday. Weathermen have claimed that the southwest monsoon is likely to be “generous” in its last lap in east India, including Bihar. India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that rainfall is expected in scattered manner in Bihar over the next four days.
“The cyclonic circulation over northwest Bay of Bengal has formed an outer band, which led to rainfall in parts of Bihar as well on Monday. Forecast has been issued for rainfall in the state over the next four days as well,” Singh said.
Private weather agency Skymet also stated on Monday that weather activity due to the cyclonic circulation over Bay of Bengal commenced on Monday over West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha. “Weather system will result in active monsoon conditions over West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. The (resultant) low pressure will weaken over Uttar Pradesh and adjoining parts of Madhya Pradesh and Bihar on September 23,” the private weather agency stated.
