Keep off Kannur,Thiruvananthapuram

A study on the lightening incidence in Kerala published in the State of the Environment Report 2007, by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment revealed that maximum number of lightening events occur in Kannur, Thiruvananthapuram tops the list in the matter of injuries resulting from lightening. The maximum number of deaths has occurred in Palappuram, with Kannur, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode just a breath behind the same number of deaths.

 

Thrissur and Wayanad are the safest place places with the number of lightening events, injuries and deaths being the lowest among all the districts. Apart from these two districts, the most lightening proof area seems to be Palakkad though the number of events is more than double that of Thrisuur. Scientists attribute this low incidence of lighting in the area west of Palakkad to a gap in the mountain range. The absence of mountain results in less formation of the Cumulonimbus clouds (Cb cloud), which is responsible for lightning. When there's no Cb cloud , there's no lightening. The maximum number of cases have been reported in April-May and October, that tim eof the year when the environmental conditions are just right for the formation of Cb clouds. The safest months are Lanuary, August and December. And 80% of lightning have struck between 3 P.M and 7 P.M. a feature special of eth lightning occurring in the state has been the ground  conduction – conduction of energy to a nearby building after lightning falls on a tree. A study conducted by the Centre for Earth Science Studies to understand the mechanism of accidents have found that 66 percent of the accidents related to lightning are due to lightning energy entering the buildings through ground conduction.

 

 

(The New Indian Express 17^th June 2007)