Farmers of Bogura Char areas of  River Jamuna requested the government to install lightning protection devices to reduce the number of fatalities and losses caused by lightning strikes.

Locals said every year due to the severe erosion of the river, the residents have to move from one char to another. Their lives continue battling with river erosion while the majority of them are low-income and dependent on agriculture.

They farm a variety of crops including domestic and foreign vegetables and high-yielding chillies. The crops produced here are transported all over the country. But men and women of various firms are losing their lives due to lightning strikes while working in the vast open fields.

According to the government, at least 40 people have died due to lightning strikes in Bogura in the last four years. Moreover, many people have suffered permanent injuries due to lightning strikes. The government had also declared it as a disaster in 2015 due to the increasing number of deaths and several projects were also taken to reduce the number.

Abdur Rashid Mondal of Karnibari union of Sariakandi recently died after being struck by lightning while working in his pepper field. Ashraful Islam, 45, and Babu Mia, 51, of that village were injured in the same incident.

Ayan Uddin, another victim, said that since there are no tall trees and houses in the char areas, the farmers and labourers frequently become victims of such accidents every year. Crops are also getting damaged. Families of accident victims are suffering life-long wounds.

Meanwhile, the Rural Development Academy (RDA) installed two lightning arrestors at Nayapara Char in Sariakandi upazila of the district experimentally. According to RDA data, there has been no damage in the past year within one and a half kilometres area of the lightning protection device.  

Lightning arrestors are a 30-40-foot long rod consisting of three- to four-inch GIP pipe and copper wire. A device is placed on top of the bar. It is called a lightning arrester. Its main function is to pull the lightning to the ground within the specified diameter. This device remains active all the time. By doing this, the farmers can work safely in the field and more than two lakh people who live in chars in Sariakandi, Sonatala and Dhunat upazilas of Bogura of Jamuna River would be risk-free.

No casualty was reported in Nayapara village of Hatsherpur union after the installation of the lightning rod. Therefore, farmers demanded that lightning rod should be installed in every char of River Jamuna.

Project Director of Char Development Research Centre and Joint Director of RDA Dr Abdul Majeed Pramanik said “The death rate of farmers and labourers in the char and haor areas due to lightning is the highest. Although the death rate from lightning has increased in recent years due to climate change, our installed lightning arresters are working properly without any damage.”

“Therefore, in order to prevent the losses of lives, it is necessary to install a sufficient number of lightning protection bars in the char area by public and private initiatives. Rural Development Academy is working towards that goal.”