Study finds alarming rise in lightning deaths in India between 2010-20

The decade from 2010 to 2020 has been the "deadliest" with an "alarming" spike in deaths due to lightning incidents, according to an analysis of the data shared by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The data showed a rise in the average annual fatalities per state and union territory from 38 during 1967-2002 to 61 in the period from 2003-2020, the research showed. Additionally, average deaths due to lightning in Indian states and union territories (UTs) almost tripled from 28 in 1986 to 81 in 2016, it noted. A team of researchers, including those from Fakir Mohan University in Odisha, found that lightning caused 1,01,309 deaths between 1967 and 2020, with an "alarming development" from 2010-2010, showing the highest increase. "The data show an increase in the average annual fatalities per states and UTs from 38 in the period 1967 to 2002, to 61 from 2003 to 2020. Notably, the decade from 2010 to 2020 emerges as the deadliest in terms of lightning incidents," the authors wrot