Protect the nature to save poor people from disasters

Dr DEBAPRIYA MUKHERJEE

Death of at least 27 people in different districts of West Bengal, India due to lightning on June 8, 2021just after severe disaster on account of “Yaas” amid COVID-19 pandemic is the clear warning of the nature that is being destroyed just to fulfill our greed. Though corporate in support of politicians is extracting natural resources, destroying the forests and severely polluting all environmental components for their vested interest in the name of development. They are maximizing their profit alluring the middle income even low income people to make them acclimatized to comfort life using AC machine, vehicle, washing machine and many more at cost of green house gas emission that inviting all these disasters. During my stay in my village I have observed that poor people are investing money to purchase mobile, TV, beauty products and even two-wheel vehicles (second hand) despite non-availability of the nutritious food and study materials to children.  The manufacturers know very well how to motivate the common people to addict all these materials with the help of celebrities and to make huge profit. For these poor people are badly badly suffering on account of these disasters.
Day by day despite tall promises of world leaders and engagement of bureaucrat, scientists, engineers and many other experts from different fields at huge financial cost to control environmental pollution and to protect the forest, climate crisis and environmental pollution are not being resolved. If we critically search we will find that top level officers who are working for the control of pollution owe more than one house, 2/3 vehicles, houses with all comforts. Most funny thing is that the officers in top management wearing suit even during non-winter season and using AC vehicle delivers a lecture in AC room on how to reduce the GHG emission. In Bengali there is one proverb “Apani achari dharma, apare shekhao”(you do it first then teach the others). But in reality it is just reverse. Also COVID 19 pandemic has proved that virtual seminars/meeting is best alternative to  the seminars organized  in 5-star hotel if we really want to save energy and food.
These top level officers and politicians are quite reluctant to think consequences of these disasters (though COVID 19 is exception) as they are well protected in their houses with no dearth of food. But sadly, the people died due to lightning were from poor family and were bound to work in agricultural/open field to sustain their livelihood during this period despite knowing the possibility of thunderstorm and lightning.  Of course they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a very heavy sky, there was a flash and then the rumble. This fatality was not only restricted to West Bengal, India, it has also been happened in other parts of world.
All senior citizens while discussing the issue related to fatality due to lightning strongly advocate that this fatality is rapidly augmented over the time because they never heard so many deaths due to lightning in their childhood. Consolation of few people even today is that it was happened due to sinful acts of these people or their close relatives. Their perception reminded Greek mythology-- Zeus had dominion over the creation of lightning. Thereby human has no role to prevent it. But it is the high time  to convince common people and remind them in a scientific manner that illegal activities of the corporate in collusion with politicians, bureaucrats and top level officers are responsible to all these unnatural deaths due to lightning.
Generally, in rural places people are not aware of the danger of lightning. When there is rain threat, people tend to ?nd shelter under a nearby tree or inside a small hut or shed. People, who stand under the tree, are likely to lean on the tree and touch each other. And when lightning strikes the tree, the person having contact with the tree will be affected by the touch voltage and if any other person have physical contact with the ?rst person will also be affected by touch voltage. In the second case casualty occurs when people take shelter inside hut, thatched roof, shed etc. The houses are generally very small. People are likely to touch the side walls and touch each other.
Convective activity is one of the most fundamental meteorological events that play an important role in atmospheric energetic and hydrological cycle. Lightning is an electrical discharge that occurs within a thunderstorm. Its visual manifestation is a crack in the sky and it is occured when certain conditions are met. Particles in a cloud rub together, gathering opposite charges that eventually separate into positive and negative regions. These two poles create a space across which a transfer of charge—or lightning bolt—may then occur. Sometimes the bolts transmit the charge to the ground and lightning strikes. The amount of lightning generated is reportedly to be influenced by factors that go beyond natural meteorology, including aerosols. Recent studies have given credence to the idea-- more intense lightning is connected with aerosol sources over land. Cloud droplets form when water vapor condenses onto aerosols. If there are lots of aerosols, there are more condensation sites so the water is distributed among them to make smaller droplets. These little droplets are especially light and so it is easier for them to rise to higher levels of the cloud on thermal updrafts. They eventually freeze partially, forming what’s known as graupel tend to become negatively charged, and begin colliding with ice crystals (positively charged) also floating in the cloud-- causes lightning.
Though the microphysics of charge separation and lightning generation due to increase of aerosol formation are still not fully understood but scientists have advocated where aerosol concentrations show increasing trend, aerosols play major roll in enhancement in lightning activity. For supplementing this views, scientists advocated where aerosol concentration is not increased appreciably in last few years the enhancement in convective activity and lightning is controlled by thermodynamic effect. Due to the increase in global temperature, meteorologists believe that lightning and thunderstorms will become more common; killing more people in the developing world.  Sadly death penalty, if the proposition of the scientists about causes of lightning is true, is imposed on poor farmers working in open ?elds.  
Unfortunately this fatality gets less attention from the media and government, due to their isolated nature.
Now there is emergent need to improve its early warning systems for preventing deaths from lightning. For this purpose, financial investment in science and technology is needed to communicate the poor and vulnerable who take risks during cloudy weather to earn their livelihoods. Government in all the states should consider on introducing lightning arresters, lightning conductors and stronger infrastructure in rural locales. Now emphasis must be given on educating the public particularly in rural areas to prevent deaths from lightning. Currently, urgent need is that the UN, along with the national and state governments, makes concerted efforts to highlight the risk of this hazard and promote measures that the developing countries can afford to mitigate its effect.
(E-mail : dpmcpcb@yahoo.com)