Odisha has restricted the cutting of existing palm trees and plans to plant around 1.9 million such trees to reduce casualties from lightning strikes.
Odisha is one of India’s worst-affected states by lightning strikes during the pre-monsoon and monsoon periods.
According to the state government, permission must be obtained from the forest department to cut palm trees on private land premises.
Palm trees act as natural conductors during lightning strikes and prevent loss of lives.
The Odisha government decided in September 2023 to undertake extensive plantation of palm trees and protect existing one.
On average, 300 people have died annually in Odisha due to lightning, with a total of 2,058 deaths from lightning strikes in the five years from 2018-19 to 2022-23. Lightning was declared a state-specific disaster in Odisha in 2015.
Lighting as a natural disaster
A few States have demanded that “lightning” be declared as a “natural disaster” because deaths caused by it surpass any other disaster in the country.
In 2023, the Union government had said that it was not in favour of declaring lightning a natural disaster as deaths caused by it can be avoided through education and awareness.
India is among the only five countries in the world with an early warning system for lightning and the forecast is available from five days to up to 3 hours.
