Dear MEL Topic Readers,
At least 83 people killed during lightning
strikes across Indian state
Although nearly 70% of the nation’s
population work in farms, India’s farmlands are rarely irrigated and thus
depend on rainfalls to water their crops, especially cotton, rice, oilseeds, and
other grains. And almost 80% of India’s precipitation comes during the Indian
Subcontinental Monsoon, usually between July and September depending on the
region. So, the timing for seeding is very critical for farmers. If they seed
too late, heavy monsoon rain will wash out the crops and if they seed too
early, hot and dry weather will kill the crops. On June 25, a lot of farmers were
working outside preparing their fields when lightning struck widely in the
north-eastern state of Bihar and killed at least 83 of them. Also, more than 20
people were reported dead in the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh. Even though over
2,000 people are killed by lightning each year in India, it was a big hit to
record more than 100 casualties in a single day.
A standard compensation of $5,300 will be
paid to each family who has lost their loved ones.
Read the article and imagine what it is like
to lose this many people each year only by lightning.
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