UP plans early lightning detection and warning system to prevent casualties

The Uttar Pradesh government has planned to set up an early lightning detection and warning system in a bid to prevent casualties caused by lightning strikes in the state especially during the monsoon season, officials said on Saturday.

They said the Uttar Pradesh Lightning Alert Management System will be set up in three phases.

According to the state's relief department, 84 people have died in lightning strikes so far this month across Uttar Pradesh. Of these, 43 people died in a 24-hour period from 6:30 pm on July 10.

The toll is even higher than the number of fatalities caused by lightning strikes in the state during last year's monsoon -- which according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) was 41.

 

Another to IMD report said Uttar Pradesh ranks among the states with the highest lightning strike casualties in the country.

"Considering the data points of lightning-related deaths in Uttar Pradesh, we were already working on setting up a lightning detection system," Dr Manish Ranalkar, the director of the meteorological department in Lucknow, said.
 

 

"Following the chief minister's directions to the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), it has been decided to set up a state-of-the-art lightning detection system based on time of arrival (ToA) technology, which is more time- and location-accurate, across the state," he said.

The IMD currently relies on radar-based systems and satellite data to warn about the possibility of lightning strikes in an area but it is not considered a real-time warning.

"The ToA-based system can successfully detect and warn about the possibility of lightning in a particular area at least 30 minutes in advance," Ranalkar added.

The estimated cost of setting up the system will be around Rs 300 crore.

"The process of establishing the Uttar Pradesh Lightning Alert Management System has been put into effect and the system is likely to be set up and activated in the first phase by the end of this year," Ranalkar added.

Uttar Pradesh Relief Commissioner Naveen Kumar told media persons on Friday that in the first phase, the lightning alert management system will be implemented in 37 districts.

The system is expected to be set up in 20 and 18 districts respectively in the second and third phases.