Bhubaneswar: Twelve persons were killed and 14 were left critical in lightning strikes across Odisha on Saturday, the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) said. In addition, 8 cattle were victims of lightning strikes.
The deceased include four from the Khurdha district, two from the Bolangir district, and one each from Angul, Boudh, Jagatsinghpur, Gajapati, Puri, and Dhenkanal districts. All the three injured are from Khurdha.
Ex-gratia of Rs 4.00 lakh will be paid to each of the bereaved families. In case of cattle death, assistance would be extended as admissible.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted the likely formation of a cyclonic circulation over the North Bay of Bengal during the next 24 hours. Under its influence, a low-pressure area is likely to form over the same area during the subsequent 48 hours.
The regional center of the IMD has issued rainfall and thunderstorm alerts for several districts of Odisha for Sunday. “Heavy rainfall is very likely to occur in one or two places over the districts of Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Angul, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Boudh, Sonepur, Kalahandi and Kandhamal,” the weather office forecasted.
In addition, thunderstorms with lightning are very likely to occur in one or two places over the districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Angul, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Khurda, Puri, Nayagarh, Ganjam, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Bolangir, Sonepur and Boudh.
