A total of 1,626 persons died due to rain-related incidents and lightning till July this year, the Union government told Parliament on Wednesday.

The highest number of deaths was reported from Andhra Pradesh (343), followed by Madhya Pradesh (243) and Himachal Pradesh (195), said Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

Rai said that the Centre does not maintain the data of damages caused by any disasters, including heavy rains and lightning. The data presented in Parliament is based on inputs from states and Union Territories, he added.

In addition to the human toll, 52,367 animals also died in rain-related incidents this year, the minister said, adding that damage was reported from around 1,57,817 hectares of cropped land.

To reduce deaths, livestock loss and damage to infrastructure caused by lightning strikes, the Centre has approved a “Mitigation Project on Lightning Safety” with a financial outlay of around Rs 186 crore for 50 districts in 10 states, Rai added.

The states are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Responding to a question on the information about lightning prevention measures being provided, Rai said that the India Meteorological Department has a system in place for “seamless monitoring, forecasting and dissemination of warnings” for thunderstorm and lightning hazards.

The department issues warnings up to five days in advance and provides colour-coded nowcasts for thunderstorms at both district and station levels every three hours, the minister said.

According to the Lightning Resilient India Campaign, which works towards reducing deaths by lightning, India has seen a rise in both the number of thunderstorms and the incidence of lightning.

A 2024 paper that analysed lightning-related fatalities between 1967 and 2020 found that in the span of 53 years, lightning had caused a total of 101,309 deaths in India.

Further, the average annual deaths per state and Union Territory had increased, from 38 in the period between 1967 and 2002, to 61 between 2003 and 2020, even though the number of such territories increased by more than ten.

Also read: Why lightning kills more people in India than any other natural disaster