Bhubaneswar: Lightning strikes have claimed the lives of 1,418 people across Odisha over the past five years, according to data shared by Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari.
The Minister disclosed this information in the Odisha Assembly on Thursday while responding to a question from BJP MLA Tankadhar Tripathy.
Between 2020 and 2025, lightning strikes resulted in 1,418 fatalities statewide. Among the districts, Mayurbhanj reported the highest toll, with 134 deaths attributed to lightning over the last five years.
Other affected districts include Balasore with 110 deaths, Ganjam with 104, Keonjhar with 100, Cuttack with 70, Koraput with 60, Dhenkanal with 58, and Nabarangpur with 56. Deogarh recorded the lowest number of casualties, with 11 deaths caused by lightning.
To address the growing threat of lightning, the Forest, Environment, and Climate Change Department devised a plan in the 2023-24 financial year, which was put into action during 2024-25.
The initiative, budgeted at Rs 7.59 crore over two years—2024-25 for plantation and 2025-26 for maintenance—aims to reduce lightning-related incidents.
The state government allocated Rs 7.59 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to the department in 2023-24 to plant 23 lakh palm trees in notified forest areas and block boundaries. To date, 19 lakh palm saplings have been planted across 51 forest blocks.
