New Delhi: With the total death toll on account of lightning strikes in the State mounting to 56 in the current monsoon season, BJD MP Rabindra Jena raised the issue in Lok Sabha today demanding that lightning should be classified as a natural calamity.
In pursuance of such classification, the kin of the deceased should be extended Rs 10 lakh compensation by the central government, Jena urged.
"There are a number of factors like cyclone and earthquake, which are considered natural calamities, but lightning is not. I would urge the Union government to declare lightning as a natural calamity so that we don't have to come to parliament every time and request for compensation," Jena said.
As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), lightning claims the highest number of lives among all natural disasters in India. In Odisha, around 300 persons are killed every year by lightning.