Bihar to set up lightning alert system to save lives

PATNA: Alarmed over the rising number of deaths due to lightning strikes, the Bihar State Disaster Management Authority (BSDMA) has signed an agreement with Bangaluru-based Earth Networks to set up a lightning forecast system in the state.

Earth Networks monitors and collects data on lightning strikes around the world.

Its system will inform the BSDMA, District Collectors, Municipal Officers and other public representatives about an impending lightning strike 30 minutes before its occurrence.

"The authorities will then send alerts on a mobile application, which will help save lives in the state. No mobile service provider has been selected so far to send the alerts," a BSDMA official said.

More than 172 people have died in lightning strikes in Bihar so far this year, Chief Secretary Amrit Pratyay said. Thunderbolt last year killed 139 people, 180 in 2017 and 107 in 2016 in the state, he added.