Bhubaneswar: Days after 12 people were killed during extreme thunderstorm and lightning activities in Odisha, the Special Relief Commissioner Nikunja Bihari Dhal on Friday directed Forest and Agriculture departments to take up massive palm tree plantation in reserve forest area and other vulnerable districts as lightning mitigation measure.
He issued the order during the inter-departmental meeting for undertaking disaster resilient projects under Disaster Mitigation Fund.
Environmentalists and weather experts in the state had earlier expressed concern over dwindling number of taller trees, including palm, that protect against lightning, which reportedly claimed 281 lives in rural areas during 2021-22. “Palm trees are taller than coconut trees. Lightning strikes those trees on and along farmlands, thus protecting farmers who work till late afternoon and during heavy rain and thunderstorm and lightning. They are now getting killed in such strikes due to nonexistent of palm trees,” said senior meteorologist Umasankar Das.
The palm tree acts as a lightning conductor during storms because of their height and reduces changes of people getting struck by it.
According to environmentalist Biswajit Mohanty, who had written to the principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) in this regard, said large-scale felling of palm tree has been noticed in Keonjhar district’s Telkoi range and Dhenkanal and Angul forest divisions.
