Hyderabad: Your newspaper headlines scream about devastating floods. Television broadcasts show families fleeing cyclones. Social media amplifies heatwave alerts. But India’s deadliest climate-driven natural disaster is one you’ve barely thought about, and it’s been killing more people than all of these combined.
Lightning claimed over 50,000 lives in two decades
Lightning has overtaken all other natural disasters to become the single largest killer in India, claiming over 50,000 lives between 2002 and 2022, with climate change and environmental degradation driving a dramatic surge in strike frequency, according to a groundbreaking peer-reviewed study that analysed two decades of mortality data.
The research, published in the journal Natural Hazards by scientists from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and affiliated institutions, found that lightning strikes accounted for nearly half of all disaster-related deaths in the country during this period—a stark revelation that exposes critical gaps in India's disaster management framework.
“Lightning has emerged as a prominent factor contributing to India’s overall mortality rate with 50,358 mortalities,” the authors stated. “With its formidable intensity and regular occurrence, lightning strikes have evolved into a significant natural disaster, claiming numerous lives across the country.”
Links to climate change
The study directly links the escalating threat to environmental changes.
“Climate change and anthropogenic changes like deforestation and aerosols in the atmosphere contribute to the increasing frequency and intensity of lightning activities in these regions,” the researchers explained, noting that changing atmospheric circulation patterns under global warming are fundamentally altering India’s disaster landscape.
Using data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), researchers examined fatalities linked to nine major natural hazards and found that out of 1.09 lakh disaster deaths over 20 years, lightning alone caused 50,358 fatalities. Heatwaves followed with over 20,500 deaths, while floods—traditionally considered India’s deadliest disaster—accounted for about 15,500 fatalities.
Geographic disparities and vulnerable states
The burden of lightning deaths has fallen unevenly across India, with eight states accounting for most casualties. Madhya Pradesh recorded the highest toll with nearly 8,000 deaths, followed by Odisha with over 6,000 and Maharashtra with more than 5,800 fatalities.
“We believe that the prime reason for more lightning fatalities in Madhya Pradesh compared to other States is due to a combination of socio-economic factors, including lack of early warning systems, unsafe sheltering practices and the population density,” the researchers explained. “Odisha also has reported a higher number of recorded deaths, partly due to improved documentation practices, particularly after 2000, as Odisha was one of the first states to offer compensation for lightning-related deaths.”
Central and eastern states—Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal—each reported over 3,000 deaths during the study period. Many of these states combine high population exposure with frequent thunderstorms, the study notes.
How was South India affected by lightning?
Southern Indian states present a mixed picture in the lightning mortality landscape. Karnataka recorded 2,332 deaths over the two decades, making it the ninth most affected state nationally, while Andhra Pradesh followed with 2,116 fatalities.
Tamil Nadu reported 1,763 deaths during the study period. The researchers noted that ‘favourable climatic conditions, such as availability of moisture content, unstable atmosphere and strong convection’ contribute to severe lightning cases in these regions.
Kerala, despite its high rainfall and frequent thunderstorms, recorded a comparatively lower toll of 622 deaths, while the newly formed state of Telangana reported 629 fatalities. The relatively smaller state of Goa recorded just five deaths during the entire period.
In contrast, hill states and smaller northeastern territories remained at the bottom of the mortality table. Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim recorded fewer than 100 fatalities each, while states like Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh reported fewer than 10 deaths.
When does lightning strike?
One of the study’s most critical findings concerns the timing of lightning strikes and their overlap with human activity.
Researchers analysed data from India’s ground-based Lightning Detection Sensor Network and discovered that lightning strikes peak during daytime hours in many high-fatality states, particularly between morning and early evening.
“In Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Nagaland and Manipur, the peak hours for lightning strikes are typically between 7:00 and 11:00 h,” the study documented. “In West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tripura, the highest number of lightning occurrences is observed between 12:00 and 14:00 h.”
These hours coincide precisely with farming, construction, fishing and other outdoor work, dramatically increasing the risk of direct exposure. The authors emphasised that ‘the states with the highest lightning-related fatalities tend to have peak occurrences between 7:00 h in the morning to 18:00 h in the evening, a period when people are most engaged in outdoor activities such as farming, construction work, fishing and daily commuting.’
Alarming surge in strike frequency driven by climate factors
The study revealed a sharp rise in cloud-to-ground lightning strikes across most states in recent years, with researchers attributing the increase to climate variability and land-use changes. Madhya Pradesh alone saw lightning events jump more than fivefold between 2019 and 2023—from approximately 282,000 strikes to over 1.6 million.
Similar dramatic increases were recorded elsewhere: West Bengal experienced a surge from 56,420 strikes in 2019 to 620,872 in 2023, while Andhra Pradesh saw occurrences rise from 65,502 to 496,758 during the same period.
“It is noteworthy that the frequency of lightning occurrences has significantly intensified across various regions of India,” the researchers observed. “The analysis reveals that all the states experienced an increase in the number of lightning occurrences.”
The mortality numbers: State-by-state breakdown
The comprehensive mortality data reveal stark regional patterns:
Top ten states by cumulative deaths (2002-2022):
Madhya Pradesh: 8,286 deaths
Odisha: 6,255 deaths
Maharashtra: 5,813 deaths
Uttar Pradesh: 4,825 deaths
Chhattisgarh: 4,515 deaths
Bihar: 3,781 deaths
Jharkhand: 3,387 deaths
West Bengal: 3,243 deaths
Karnataka: 2,332 deaths
Andhra Pradesh: 2,116 deaths
Southern states’ toll:
Karnataka: 2,332 deaths
Andhra Pradesh: 2,116 deaths
Tamil Nadu: 1,763 deaths
Telangana: 629 deaths
Kerala: 622 deaths
The data underscores that central and eastern states dominate the mortality statistics, with the top three states alone accounting for more than 20,000 deaths—over 40 per cent of the national total.
Science meets socioeconomics
A particularly revealing aspect of the research concerns the disconnect between lightning intensity and mortality. The study found that states with the highest electrical discharge—such as Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh and Haryana—recorded minimal fatalities, while states with moderate current intensity suffered the highest death tolls.
“Despite the high current magnitudes, no significant correlation was found between lightning current and mortalities, which were highest in states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,” the authors noted.
Instead, the researchers discovered that population density and exposure patterns matter far more than the physical power of strikes. When they normalised lightning occurrences against population data, a clearer picture emerged: “Generally, when the ratio of normalised lightning occurrences is low, mortality tends to be high, indicating that denser populations experience greater impacts.”
Policy failures and protection gaps
Perhaps most damning is the study’s exposure of India’s policy inadequacies. Despite its devastating death toll, lightning is still not formally classified as a national disaster, which limits access to Central relief funds for affected families.
“In India, the reporting of lightning deaths is not systematic, and even today, the Central government has not officially recognised or included lightning in the National Natural Disaster list; moreover, affected families do not receive financial assistance from national relief funds,” the researchers pointed out.
The protection infrastructure remains woefully inadequate.
“The main disadvantage of the lightning mitigation system is the limited awareness of the communities about the lightning protection system. LPS covers only 2 per cent of the Indian masses, and practically in the rural areas, it is negligible. This is the primary reason for lightning-related deaths.”
Awareness remains particularly low in rural and tribal areas, where most victims live and work outdoors.
The study highlighted that government awareness initiatives broadcast on television and in newspapers mainly reach metropolitan and semi-urban areas, obliging rural inhabitants to remain ignorant.’
Even housing schemes have inadvertently increased vulnerability. “The houses built under the Indira Awas Yojna or Pradhana Mantra Awas Yojna have a roof made of metal/tin sheets, which attracts lightning. It needs to be replaced with a concrete/pucca roof,” the authors warned.
Urgent call for action
The researchers issued a stark warning about the future, linking rising mortality to broader environmental trends. “Lightning-related deaths show a concerning increase, with a strong upward trend indicating rising occurrences of lightning events and insufficient steps to mitigate the losses, such as public awareness and protective infrastructure.”
The study emphasised that, unlike cyclone deaths, which have declined steeply due to better forecasting, lightning fatalities continue rising. “It is possible that changing circulation under the influence of global warming is impacting the occurrence characteristics of the natural disasters,” the authors noted, warning that these shifts in atmospheric patterns are fundamentally reshaping India’s risk profile.
They called for urgent intervention, including recognising lightning as a major disaster, expanding early warning outreach beyond smartphones, installing protection systems in schools and panchayat buildings, and tailoring safety campaigns to rural livelihoods.
“Without targeted intervention,” the study warns, “rising lightning activity driven by climate variability and land-use change could push fatalities even higher in the coming years.”
The research was conducted by scientists from the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), ISRO’s Earth & Climate Sciences Area, Regional Remote Sensing Centre Nagpur, Cochin University of Science & Technology and the Climate Resilient Observation Systems Promotion Council (CROPC).
