In the last four years in Nepal, 237 people have died due to lightning and 988 people have been injured. There is a risk of lightning from Jhapa in Koshi to Kanchanpur in far west and from Humla in Karnali to Dhanusha in Madhesh.

Roshni Kumari Shrestha, joint secretary of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, informed that Jhapa, Udaipur and Makwanpur districts in Nepal are under the threat of lightning.

According to him, from July 1, 2078 to June 5, 2082, there have been 1,118 incidents of lightning and 1,607 families have been affected. She mentioned that Nepal ranks fifth in the world based on the risk of disasters caused by lightning.

'Homes and tall towers are targeted by lightning . Common people who work in agriculture during summer are more affected by lightning. "Lightning incidents are more frequent in Koshi province, while human and material losses are more in Lumbini province," said Shrestha, joint secretary of the authority.

In the past four years, there were 295 incidents of lightning in Koshi province, 366 houses were affected, 51 people died and 84 were injured, she informed. Due to lightning in Koshi, property worth Rs.

According to the authority, there have been 180 lightning incidents in Lumbini province in four years, 54 people have died and physical damage worth Rs 3 crore 49 thousand has been caused. In Lumbini, 276 families were affected by lightning, 165 were injured and 98 livestock died, said Shrestha, Joint Secretary of the Authority.

According to him, 35 people have lost their lives in Far West, 27 in Madhes, 25 in Bagmati, 24 in Gandaki and 21 in Karnali. According to the authority, 207 people were injured in Karnali, 158 in Far West, 84 in Gandaki, 82 in Bagmati and 28 in Madhesh.

Madan Sigdel, associate professor of Central Department of Water and Meteorology of Tribhuvan University informed that lightning is the second biggest cause of loss of human wealth due to disasters in Nepal. He said that there are more incidents of lightning during the pre-monsoon and monsoon period from March to June.

According to Associate Professor Sigdel, during that period, the atmosphere becomes unstable and the process of lightning increases . He mentioned that there are more lightnings in Nepal due to the geographical conditions of mountains, hills and plains.

Associate Professor Sigdel says that lightning cannot be prevented, but the damage caused by it can be reduced by 80 percent. He said that awareness is the most effective way to reduce damage caused by lightning.

'The reason for more human and material losses in Nepal compared to developed countries is the lack of awareness and technology', Climate expert Sigdel said, 'Our survey found that 80 percent of human losses occurred when working people went to open places . Such damage is likely to be preventable.'

According to a study showing that more lightning occurs after noon during the monsoon, he said that at the same time, people work in the fields, cut grass, and graze cattle, causing more human losses. He said that if such works can be done before midday and if one does not go to an open place when there is a thunderstorm, the human damage will be automatically reduced.

The Department of Water and Meteorology has installed radar equipment that informs about the occurrence of lightning in Udaipur, Palpa and Surkhet districts an hour before, but all the three radars are currently broken. Climatologist Sigdel informed that if those radars are repaired and put into operation, information can be obtained about the lightning strike area half an hour to an hour before. He said that the radar will analyze the place of lightning by monitoring the process of cloud formation.