An idiom which was perhaps coined in 18th century to denote surprise, has come to stay as a grim reminder of vagaries of nature as lightning strike has become a lurking threat to outdoor activities, particularly for the farming community in the country.
Lightning is the most impressive, commonly experienced geophysical phenomenon, producing the brightest Light and the loudest Sound commonly occurring on the Earth. There are approximately 30 to 100 cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning discharges per second worldwide; that translates roughly to 9 million discharges per day worldwide.
Globally, 85% to 90% of lightning occurs over land because solar radiation heats land faster, causing convection (thunderstorms) to be taller and stronger. This makes entire India venerable to lightning strike, but considering the fact that lightning is essentially a product of thunderstorm, so central and eastern parts of the country, includingBihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and adjoining areas of Bangladesh are the thunderstorm orlightning hotspots.
With an elaborate Network of ground and space-based observations, meteorological agencies are able to identify the areas of potential formation of such thunderstorm. For a wider outreach, these Services have been made available free of cost through mobile apps like DAMINI of ministry of earth sciences and INDRA VAJRA of Bihar government.