West Bengal: Death toll resulting from lightning rises to 27, climate specialists say frequent lightning strikes resulting from sharp fluctuations in temperature

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The loss of life toll rose to 27 a day after at the very least 20 individuals have been killed in a thunderstorm in south Bengal, officers mentioned.

Eleven deaths have been reported in Hooghly, 9 in Murshidabad, 4 in two districts of Medinipur, two in Bankura and one in Nadia. Most of those that died have been laborers who have been working within the fields within the open. The age of the victims ranged from 17 to 67 years. In addition, three passengers on board the Mumbai-Kolkata flight have been critically injured when their plane encountered turbulence close to Kolkata.

Meteorologists acknowledged that the frequency of such lightning strikes has elevated over time and mentioned they’re finding out the causes. According to an official, sharp fluctuations in temperature could possibly be one of many causes.

“Yes, the lightning frequency has increased but earlier there was no detector to check the lightning frequency. Therefore, there is no record of how many times this happened before. In fact, there has also been an increase in the deaths due to lightning but this could also be the reason that more deaths are taking place these days due to better communication channels,” mentioned Regional Meteorological Center (RMC) director GK Das. informed The Indian Express.

Weather officers mentioned extra lightning may happen this month as humid climate and a low stress system developed over the Bay of Bengal.

According to specialists, as a result of speedy change in temperature, the wind maintains an up and down motion which creates extra friction and lightning strikes.

“Suddenly high temperature and then low temperature also causes lightning in the sky,” an official mentioned.

An official of the Disaster Management Department mentioned, “To stop lightning deaths, it is very important make sure that individuals keep indoors when such climate is predicted, particularly in rural areas. In case of frequent lightning strikes, individuals keep indoors. requires to remain indoors and keep away from open areas
Happening.”

A meteorologist mentioned that generally such warnings don’t attain all areas in time, leading to excessive loss of life tolls.

According to the Meteorological Department, related thunderstorms will proceed with lightning within the area right now.

Moderate rain with robust wind will proceed over Kolkata because it did on Monday. The most and minimal temperatures are prone to hover round 36 diploma Celsius and 27 diploma Celsius respectively. The metropolis recorded 001.4 mm of rain in 24 hours.

There can also be a chance of rain in districts like Malda, Murshidabad, Paschim Bardhaman and Nadia. “Thunderstorm with 30-40 kmph and light to moderate rain and thundershowers over some parts of Malda, Murshidabad, West Burdwan and Nadia districts of West Bengal during next 2-3 hours from today’s 15:30 hrs IST. There is a possibility of lightning. 8 June 2021,” mentioned the Meteorological Department.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress (TMC) basic secretary Abhishek Banerjee introduced that he would meet the households affected by lightning on Wednesday. Banerjee will meet the households of the deceased in Murshidabad on Wednesday and Hooghly the subsequent day.

On Wednesday, he’ll meet the family of the deceased at camps in Behrampur and Raghunathganj Block 1. They are prone to go to the camps at Haripal, Khankul and Polba Dadpur the subsequent day.

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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS

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