As per the available data with the Met Office, Odisha recorded a total of 173 lightning deaths in just the first two months of the 2017 monsoon period and alone accounted for nearly 49 per cent of lightning deaths in the country. Jharkhand alone accounted for half of the total thunderstorm casualties nationally.
The worry for Odisha is deaths due to lightning have been the highest this monsoon as the lightning casualties touched the 300-mark during June to September, and the deaths were reported from as many as 25 districts. For this, the Indian Met Office has put Odisha on the climate change watch list by labelling it as a 'significant' weather event observed in State.
Comment: Last month three waterspouts were spotted in the waters off Thousand Islands regency, a phenomenon rarely seen in the tropics, the National Mitigation Agency said.