Lucknow: To reduce deaths due to lightning in the state, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to install a large number of early warning systems as well as a lightning detection sensor network in the state, the Chief Minister’s Office said in a statement. have taken.
Under this initiative, 50 new lightning detection sensors will be installed across the state, in addition to 5,000 early warning systems to send real-time lightning warnings to the public. Additionally, the state government is also running awareness and training programs for lightning resistance.
Relief Commissioner GS Naveen Kumar said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had given necessary guidelines in a high-level meeting held recently to minimize the loss of life due to lightning in the state.
In line with his direction, a survey was conducted and a need was felt to install a network of 50 new lightning detection sensors across the state and set up early warning systems in sensitive areas.
The proposal to carry out this exercise was presented to the Chief Minister, who approved it. Under the decision, the lightning detection sensor network will be set up across the state in three phases.
The first phase will include 37 districts, the second phase will include 20 districts and the third phase will include 19 districts. The network will be established with the technical support of the Meteorological Department.
It is noteworthy that a survey was conducted to reduce the damage caused by lightning, which revealed that the number of lightning detection sensors installed by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and the Meteorological Department is insufficient for accurate prediction.
Therefore, a pilot project has been implemented in Duddhi block of Sonbhadra, which is most affected by lightning, where an early warning system has been installed. It was found that to obtain accurate prediction of lightning strikes across the state, it is necessary to establish a lightning detection sensor network and an early warning system.
The survey has identified 5,000 vulnerable locations in all 75 districts of the state, where installation of early warning systems, including alerts for lightning and other disasters, is considered necessary. As a result, it has been decided to install early warning systems at all the 5,000 identified sensitive locations in the state.
A web-based integrated early warning system has been prepared based on the survey in collaboration with the Relief Commissioner’s Office and the Meteorological Department. Through this system, alert calls are sent to 2.15 crore gross route workers and community members one hour before a lightning strike, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of casualties.
On the instructions of CM Yogi, Uttar Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority is implementing “Lightning Safety Awareness Program” to reduce loss of life due to natural disasters in the state.
This program is being implemented in the highly affected and sensitive districts of Sonbhadra, Mirzapur, Prayagraj and Lalitpur. Block level workshops are being organized in all 51 development blocks of these districts and village level workshops in all Panchayats.
Awareness programs on electricity safety are also being run through microphones in all the Gram Panchayats of these districts.
As a result, there has been a significant reduction in lightning-related deaths in the state, with deaths recorded in Lalitpur by 25 per cent, Prayagraj by 52 per cent and Sonbhadra by 30 per cent compared to 2023-24. 2021-22.
