TDPel Special Edition

Climate crisis causes a surge over India lightning strike

- By Dorcas Funmi

Climate crisis has caused lightning strikes in India, leading to deaths as residents are getting traumatize­d due to thundersto­rms. Thunderbol­ts contain as much as a billion volts of electricit­y and can cause immense damage to buildings when they hit. Dozens of people have met gruesome

ends this year in the western desert state of Rajasthan, where deaths caused by thundersto­rms used to be uncommon. Faizuddin, a 21 year old victim, is still traumatize­d from the lightning strike that killed his three friends as they took selfies atop a 400-year-old fort. His voice quivering as he lay wrapped in a blanket at his modest home in Jaipur. He and his trio of childhood friends had climbed hundreds of steps to a watchtower on top of Amer Fort during a July storm that also claimed eight other lives. “I was hit by three thunderbol­ts, one after the other. “The sound was deafening, it felt like a huge bomb blast. My trousers and shoes caught fire, my limbs became stiff and I couldn’t move,” he said. Cattle and other animals are often killed or maimed during severe thundersto­rms, with one burst of lightning in northeaste­rn Assam state wiping out a herd of 18 elephants in May. About 2,500 people die in lightning strikes around India each year, according to government figures, compared with just 45 in the United States.

Paninga stressed the need for Nongovernm­ental Organizati­ons NGOS to ensure that their activities touch the lives of people across the twenty-one local Government Areas in Adamawa state. Represente­d by the Director Donor Support Coordinati­on in the commission, Mrs Gladys Dzarmah, Doctor Paninga explained that the meeting which is tagged coordinati­ng with the NGOS was to discuss areas requiring interventi­on. Some participan­ts, of the meeting who include the program officer, Goggoji Zumunchi Developmen­t Initiative Aishatu Birma that of of Touch a Heart Social and Economic Rights Initiative Mr Nor Barnabas expressed delight with the meeting and pledged to use the knowledge acquired for the benefit of humanity. Highlight of the event, was a presentati­on and recommenda­tion issues on bordering Education, environmen­t, Health, livelihood, Governance, Conflict, peace and security, as well as child protection and Gender mainstream­ing.

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