BHUBANESWAR: In an extremely bizarre atmospheric phenomenon the state of Odisha was hit by a staggering 61,000 lightning in a span of nearly two hours on Saturday leaving 12 people dead and 14 injured on Saturday.

According to weather experts, while lightning strikes are pretty common in the eastern part of India during the monsoon season, the high number of strikes in a single day was unprecedented.

According to the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC), responsible for disaster management in the state, lightning struck in six districts of Odisha on Saturday, resulting in the tragic loss of lives and causing injuries to several individuals.

Deaths due to the lightning were reported from Khurda, Bolangir, Angul, Boudh, Jagatsinghpur, Dhenkanal, Gajapati, and Puri districts of the state, and there are reports of cattle deaths due to the lightning strikes bombarded across the entire region. The government of Odisha announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakhs for each of the bereaved families.

The India Meteorology Department (IMD) issuing a warning of extreme weather conditions in the state for the next few days as a cyclonic circulation active over the Bay of Bengal may intensify into a low-pressure area in the next 48 hours and under its influence, widespread rain is likely to occur across Odisha.

The former director of the Bhubaneswar Centre of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) SC Sahu has reportedly said that lightning has become a common occurrence because of intense heat and high moisture content in the air, caused by advancing air from the Bay of Bengal. 

A study published in the Nature Communications journal in February this year said that There has been a 43 per cent rise in total lightning incidents globally, while some other studies have predicted that due to the fast-rising sea surface area, several coastal regions of the world could witness a 50 per cent rise in deadly lightning strikes by the end of this century.

In the month of May, three individuals, including a woman had tragically lost their lives when lightning struck various locations within the Saranakula police limits in Nayagarh district situated between two steep hill ranges about 90 kilometres from the capital Bhubaneswar.

Normally Odisha's rainy season starts in July and lasts till October. At the beginning of June, Southwest monsoons head to the state and then are under its influence by July which usually goes on throughout September and by mid-October, the rains withdraw from this region altogether.