Despite shrinking carbon footprints and higher renewable energy reserves, India's environment is facing a bigger threat. According to recent data, localised climate changes such as lightning have claimed more lives in recent years. According to government data, during March and April 2025, lightning claimed 162 lives, a 184 per cent surge from the previous year. Bihar, the epicentre of the disaster, has seen a massive spike in the number of deaths due to lightning. During a six-day window in April, the state recorded 98 deaths, the highest the state had witnessed in the last decade.
Lightning is no longer a mere seasonal risk; rather, it has become one of the most unspoken yet deadly disasters, claim several senior researchers, including Prof. Sanjay Srivastava, Chairman of the Climate Resilient Observing Systems Promotion Council (CROPC) and convener of the Lightning Resilient India Campaign. For every rise in temperature, the atmosphere’s moisture-holding capacity increases by seven per cent, while lightning strikes are estimated to increase by 12 per cent. This extra energy is manifesting as massive, lethal electrical discharges.
While the Union government is debating whether lightning should be termed a national disaster, the states have begun to take steps. Odisha, which consistently tops the chart, has taken one of the traditional methods: planting palm trees. The state has launched a massive drive to plant more than 19 lakh palm trees. Why? Because palm trees act as natural lightning conductors. Their high sap and water content allow them to absorb the strike and channel the voltage safely into the ground, protecting the surrounding fields. In a world of high-tech solar grids, the humble palm tree has become a critical piece of "climate infrastructure".
It isn’t just the rural heartland that is getting affected. India's rapid urbanisation has resulted in a new phenomenon: urban lightning hotspots. In cities such as Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad, the "urban heat island" effect—where concrete traps heat—combined with high levels of atmospheric aerosols (pollution), is creating more frequent and intense "convective storms".
Pollutants in the air act as nuclei for cloud formation, making clouds more electrically active. Recent studies from ISRO and IMD suggest that every Indian state has witnessed a spike in lightning strikes between 2019 and 2025, which includes urban areas where lightning incidents were once a rare issue.
The tragedy is the last-mile gap. While on one side governments invest millions building solar parks and other infrastructure, on the other side the protection of rural labourers from such disasters is still out of government intervention.
The newly enacted Disaster Management (Amendment) Act, 2025, provides a framework for better data and response, but experts argue it still doesn't go far enough in funding local-level protection. Until the gap between high-tech forecasting and ground-level awareness is bridged, India’s green transition will remain a bittersweet victory—one where the energy is cleaner, but the sky is deadlier than ever.
The author is a final year student of BA Media and Journalism student at Christ University, Bengaluru.
