Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has initiated steps to formulate a standard operating procedure (SoP) on lightning safety to reduce human casualties, officials said.
Experts and representatives from leading scientific, technical and academic institutions are drafting the SoP at a two-day national workshop on lightning safety that began Thursday.
Inaugurating the workshop, Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said lightning had emerged as a major disaster because of the scale of damage and loss of life it caused.
The Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) had been making sustained efforts to address the challenge and reduce lightning-related deaths and losses, he said.
Pujari said the workshop would provide a platform for scientists, researchers, experts and administrative officials to share knowledge and identify effective measures to mitigate the impact of lightning.
He expressed confidence that the initiative would further strengthen the state’s disaster risk reduction capabilities.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said discussions would focus on improving lightning detection, monitoring and forecasting through the integration of satellite data, numerical weather prediction, AI, machine learning (ML) and Panchayat-level decision-support systems.
OSDMA Managing Director Rajesh Prabhakar Patil said the workshop aimed to strengthen lightning forecasting, risk assessment, early-warning dissemination and public safety measures. The deliberations would focus on translating scientific knowledge and technological advances into practical measures to protect vulnerable communities, particularly farmers, students and people living in lightning-prone areas, he said.
Among those participating in the workshop are researchers from IMD, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, National Remote Sensing Centre, National Centre for Earth Science Studies, IIT-Bhubaneswar, NIT-Patna, National Institute of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence and Tripura University.
A key outcome of the workshop will be the preparation of the ‘Lightning-Safe Odisha: Action Plan 2027 and Roadmap 2027- 2030’, officials said.
The proposed roadmap will outline coordinated measures for lightning forecasting, risk reduction, public awareness, early-warning dissemination and emergency response, they added.
