Despite the installation of lightning arresters in Sunamganj and Habiganj haors, lightning strikes are increasingly claiming lives in flood-ridden lightning-prone areas.
Officials are not aware of the effectiveness of these devices, said local sources.
According to the Department of Disaster Management, Sunamganj district, 23 people died from lightning strikes in the district in 2023. In 2022, the number of fatalities was 24. Before this, 11 people died each year in 2021 and 2020. This year, seven people have died from lightning strikes till May.
Considering the frequency of lightning strikes and the death rate in the country, the government declared lightning as a ‘disaster’ through a gazette notification in 2016. Following this, 15 districts prone to lightning strikes were identified, and the installation of lightning arresters in these areas began.
Based on a survey report by the Department of Meteorology at University of Dhaka, 15 districts identified as having the highest incidence of lightning strikes are Netrakona, Kishoreganj, Jamalpur, Mymensingh, Sunamganj, Habiganj, Rajshahi, Nawabganj, Pabna, Naogaon, Sirajganj, Bogura, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat, and Dinajpur. Under this project, lightning arresters were installed in the Sunamganj and Habiganj districts of the Sylhet region.
Therefore, in the fiscal year 2021-22, the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief allocated Tk 2 crore for installing lightning arresters in these districts. Specifically, Tk 15 lakh was allocated for Bahubal Upazila, Tk 30 lakh for Nabiganj, Tk 45 lakh for Baniachang, Tk 30 lakh for Ajmiriganj, Tk 15 lakh for Habiganj Sadar, Tk 25 lakh for Lakhai, Tk 10 lakh for Shayestaganj, Tk 15 lakh for Chunarughat, and Tk 15 lakh for Madhabpur.
With this funding, lightning arresters were installed in nine upazilas of the district. The installation was completed before the monsoon season of 2023. However, even after the end of the monsoon season of 2023 and the start of the current monsoon season, the Habiganj district administration has no information on the progress of the installation.
According to the experts on lightning rods and devices stated that metals like copper and aluminium have very low electrical resistance. Therefore, lightning rods are made from such metals. These rods provide a safe path for high-voltage electricity to reach the ground. The rods, which are 30-40 feet long, consist of three to four-inch GIP pipes and copper wires.
Additionally, a lightning arrester is a device installed on top of the lightning rod. Its primary function is to the ground if it falls within the specified diameter. The device includes a metre-like counter that keeps track of the number of lightning strikes. This device remains active at all times.
On a visit, this correspondent found that although the device was installed, the district relief and disaster branch does not have records of how many lightning strikes were prevented last year.
In 2023, the then-disaster and relief officer of Habiganj district, Shah Jahurul Hossain, said, “The installation of lightning arrester machines in all upazilas of the district has been completed. We sent a related report to the ministry four to five months ago. However, to assess the effectiveness of the device, we need to wait until the end of the current season.”
Regarding this matter, Habiganj District CommissionerJilufa Sultanasaid that she is not aware of the installation of a lighting arrester machine in the haorregion of Habiganj. She suggested contacting the district relief and rehabilitation officer. However, the current officer in charge of the district relief and rehabilitation, Sumi Rani Baul, did not answer the call.
On the other hand, 18 lighting arrester machines were installed before the last monsoon season in Sunamganj, one of the lightning-prone areas of the country, to reduce the number of casualties.
This project, initiated by the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, cost Tk 1,44,00,000. Despite the installation in six upazilas, no further attention was given to the machines. Sunamganj District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer, Mohammad Shofiqul Islam, does not know if the machines are effective.
Shofiqul Islam said that initially, 18 lightning arresters were installed in six upazilas. He is unaware of their effectiveness. Regarding the lack of knowledge about the effectiveness despite having an entire monsoon season, he said that the machines have counters like metres; the number of lightning strikes is also kept there. However, he did not pay a visit, so he does not know how many strikes were prevented.
Sunamganj's Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate, Mohammad RashedIqubal Chowdhury, said that he did not come to Sunamganj for long and that is why not fully aware of the details. He added that he would instruct the district relief officer to oversee the lightning protection devices installed in the haor region.
Experts say that although March-April-May is the peak season for lightning, it can also occur from May to September due to seasonal changes. The government has taken various precautionary measures for this.
One of the measures was the government's plan to plant ten million palm trees across the country to protect against lightning. However, this plan was cancelled in May 2022 because it was found that after planting around 3.8 million palm trees, they died due to lack of care.
Additionally, a palm tree takes 30-40 years to grow. Given the increasing incidence of lightning, waiting for palm trees to grow could result in significant damage. Therefore, as an alternative, the project to plant palm trees was abandoned in favour of installing lightning rods and lightning arresters.
However, due to a lack of supervision, this project is also failing, according to experts.
