Saving peasants from thunderbolts

Frequency of thunderstorms and their attendant lightning strikes are increasing globally and the culprit is global warming. The issue has been discussed multiple times on different occasions in the media. The fact that  the country's peasants are dying in increasing numbers while working in their crop fields as they have no protection against thunderbolts is concerning. Mere discussion of the mortal threat they are exposed to, especially during the monsoon will not suffice. A report by the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) published in early 2023 revealed some startling truths about how Bangladesh has become a global hotspot of lightning strikes. The report says, "Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of death by lightning on the planet with over three hundred recorded fatalities in any one year, compared to less than 20 fatalities in the United States of America, which has almost double the population". But the situation was not so critical in the past. The same UNCDF study adds that during the entire 1950s, only 37 people died by lightning strikes!

Another report published recently in a local daily says that the districts most prone to thunderstorms and lightning strikes are also the ones  that are the major foodgrain producers. The districts include Sunamganj, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Netrakona, Dinajpur and so on. A similar study on the danger that thunderbolts pose to the country's agricultural sector was done some years back by two researchers of the Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET). They also came up with similar findings. Especially, April, May and June are the peak farming months when Boro rice is harvested and plantation of Aman starts. These are the two dominant varieties of rice in Bangladesh. Boro, a dry season rice dependent on irrigation, is grown between December and April, while Aman is broadcast or transplanted during the rainy season (July-November). Unfortunately, during these months, frequency of thunderstorms along with thunderbolts also increases significantly leaving the peasants quite unprotected from the unpredictable deaths from the sky. However, with modern-day advancements in meteorological science, it is possible to forecast which areas have the potential to form thunderstorms depending on the level of humidity in the air, the presence of hot air and factors causing to lift the hot air upwards.

These are the ideal conditions for creating thunderstorms. Since thunderstorms are the main sources of thunderbolts, it is possible to warn the inhabitants of particular areas where weather patterns bear the symptoms of thunderstorms brewing. But meteorologists cannot still locate exactly where a thunderstorm will form. Similarly, it is still beyond meteorological science to tell when and where lightning will strike. Though one cannot exactly locate where a thunderstorm would form or a lightning would strike, it is still possible to identify areas where thunderstorms are highly likely and warn people, especially farmers to keep indoors. In this connection, some developments have reportedly taken place with the support of the UNCDF. Lightning sheds, each 10 metres high and fitted with lightning rod on top for earthing of the electrical charge created in the thunderstorm have been built in some thunderstorm-prone areas. The haor area where the sheds are built at Rafinagar Union at Dirai in Sunamganj are meant for giving shelter to fishermen, many of whom died by thunder strikes while fishing. Notably, the lightning sheds have been built using concrete and are accessible from the ground level via concrete steps. These are two-storey structures and during the flooding seasons boats can be moored to the higher steps of the lightning shelters so fishermen/peasants can take shelter on the second floor of these structures.

But these lightning shelters are meant for haor areas in the northeastern districts of Bangladesh. What is necessary is to build more of the UNCDF-assisted lightning shelters across the country, especially for peasants in the rice growing districts.

But these lightning sheds are but a temporary answer to the issue. To assuage angry Nature, trees, especially tall trees, which are natural lightning arresters, have to be planted close to the crop fields. The government needs to take up a massive programme to this end. 

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