Weather Alert: Thunderstorm and lightning alert issued for 7 Odisha districts

Bhubaneswar: The regional centre of India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Bhubaneswar issued thunderstorm and lightning warning for seven districts of Odisha till 6 PM today.

As per the latest bulletin of the IMD, light to moderate thunderstorm and lightning is likely to occur at several places over Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Keonjhar, Angul, Kandhamal and Boudh between 3 PM and 6 PM today.

The people in these districts have also been advised to remain alert as gusty winds reaching a speed up to 30-40 kmph is also likely to prevail during the thunderstorm along with moderate rainfall.

As per a recent report, 1256 people died due to lightning in last three years in Odisha. As many as 399 people had lost their lives in lightning in 2015-16 while 397 people and 460 people were killed in 2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively.

Out of the total deaths in the last three years, 1069 deaths (about 85 per cent) have occurred in the last five months.