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-- 70 percent of whom were engaged in agricultural work.

The scale of lightning-related deaths in Bangladesh is staggering compared to other countries, according to a study presented at the American Geophysical Union’s Fall Meeting in December 2024 by researchers Mostofa Kamal, Yanping Li, Fateme Piya, and Joynal Shishir.

The study found that Bangladesh experiences seven times fewer lightning strikes than the United States, yet its fatalities are 10 times higher.

Between 2010 and 2023, around 4,000 people were killed by lightning, with 75 percent of them in rural areas, the study showed.

SCIENCE OF LIGHTNING

Another study published in Earth Systems and Environment in April 2025 by ATMS Azam, Nasreen Akter, Ashraf Dewan, Mohammad Al-Masum Molla, and M Rafiuddin found a key reason behind increased lightning activity.

According to the study, lightning strikes are most frequent during the pre-monsoon season (April–May) due to an elevated concentration of dust and sulphate particles in the air.

The study calls it “transboundary air pollution”, as these pollutants are transported into Bangladesh from northern and western India via upper-level westerlies. Meanwhile, Dhaka, one of the country’s most polluted cities, has also contributed to the situation.

Meteorologists explain that lightning is caused by the rapid buildup and discharge of electrical energy resulting from collisions between ice crystals and soft hails within a storm cloud. Higher concentrations of dust and sulphate particles increase cloud electrification and charge separation.

GOVT RESPONSES

In 2016, after 80 people were killed in a single day, Bangladesh declared lightning a natural disaster.

Since then, successive governments have implemented projects like palm tree plantations, installation of lightning arresters, and constructing shelters.

However, none of those were successful in reducing lightning-related deaths.

Md Abdus Sobhan, deputy director (planning) at the Department of Disaster Management, said 306 lightning arresters were installed in fiscal 2021-22 under a completed project.

“After that, we formulated another project to build farmer shelters with lightning arresters in lightning-prone areas. But this project is still under review at the Planning Commission.”

Meanwhile, Netai Chandra Dey Sarker, director of monitoring and information management at the department, said the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry’s 1090 disaster hotline cannot keep pace with lightning.

“After receiving a lightning forecast, the time is so short that this method is not effective. We are now exploring instant voice messages pushed to mobile networks in at-risk areas, but the plan remains at an early stage.”

Meanwhile, Rashim Mollah, general secretary of SSTAF, said the government often provides some financial compensation to the families of the deceased. “But the injured suffer the most, with no support to cover the medical costs.”

A GAP THAT KILLS

The Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) has for years been able to forecast thunderstorms and possible lightning strikes.

However, the gap between what forecasters produce and what reaches farmers in the field has emerged as a central failure.

BMD Senior Meteorologist Muhammad Abul Kalam Mallik said, “Thunderstorms are short-term phenomena…. They can develop within 30 minutes to 1.5-2 hours. Currently, we are publishing forecasts only through the department’s official Facebook page, which is not reaching the farmers in the field.”

He said the most dangerous moments are when workers ignore or fail to understand the warning signs overhead.

“Farmers or labourers in the field, or fishermen in the water, usually hear thunder as a signal, which comes after lightning. They don’t look up at the sky,” he said, adding that awareness is the key to saving lives.

“Through several NGOs and Met clubs at schools, we are trying to raise awareness with a single slogan -- ‘when thunder roars, go indoors’.”

Mallik explained the 30-30 rule, urging all to follow it. “First, if lightning flashes in the sky and you hear thunder within 30 seconds, then the thunderstorm is coming towards you. You should go home and wait 30 minutes after the last thunder.”

Netai Chandra also said that before anything else, public awareness needs to be raised. “For lightning, we have formulated a standard operating protocol and, to build awareness, a committee has been formed, which is also working on all possible ways to disseminate forecast messages to the masses.”

However, SSTAF GS Rashim Mollah said awareness alone cannot overcome the economic pressure pushing farmers to stay in the field.

“When farmers see clouds in the sky, they rush to harvest. Besides, in rural farming areas, houses or shelters are too far from the fields, so they often choose to continue working.”

He said shelters are the answer, not technology. “Hundreds of crores of taka were spent on government projects that never really worked…. Since incidents occur more in the Haor region, if a pucca house can be constructed every 100 metres as a shelter, that will be enough. It will help save lives even without the use of arresters.”

Mollah also urged free medical care for survivors and the inclusion of lightning safety in school textbooks.