Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has decided to introduce a special mobile application to provide advance information on lightning which has claimed atleast 61 lives between April and May 22nd this year,a senior officer informed.
Information on lightning will be available on smartphones to help people move to safer places and save their lives,said special relief commissioner B.P.Sethi.
The mobile application will be developed to alert smartphones users if they are in a lightning zone,he said.
People using smartphone will get information regarding possible lightning in their areas atleast one hour ahead of the calamity.They can move to safer places,Mr.Sethi told reporters.
He said a meeting headed by Chief Secretary A.P.Padhi some days ago decided to collaborate with the US based “Earth Network” to install lightning detection system in the state.
Replying to a question,Mr.Sethi said the people not using smartphones will also be able to get the information via SMSes.The motive of this move is to reduce the death count due to lightning strikes.
One can call up State Control room on 1070 and District Control room on 1077 to get help,the SRC added.
Lightning has become a major disaster in the state that claims on an average more than 400 human lives per year,he stated.
As per the data given by Mr.Sethi,as many as 459 people lost their lives due to lightning during 2017-18.Between April and May 22 this year atleast 61 people have lost their lives due to it.
Prasanta Patnaik 
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