Karachi: The first detector to predict lightning has been installed in Pakistan.
6 lightning detectors will be installed in various districts of rural Sindh including Karachi. 25 detectors have been gifted by China to Pakistan. A short and a long range detector will be installed in Karachi at the same time, which will have the information of lightning incidents from the sea. The intensity of lightning in the upper atmosphere can be estimated during the thunderstorm of the rain system.
Under the project, 25 lightning detectors will be installed across the country. The collected data of lightning events will be helpful during future abnormal weather conditions. The equipment, gifted by China, is manufactured by the Institute of Electrical Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, worth over Rs 28 crore.
Due to climate change, abnormal activities such as land and sea level rise, increase in storms and increased occurrences of lightning are also included. In the recent and distant past, several incidents of lightning strike in Tharparkar during heavy rains have caused loss of precious human lives and death of livestock.
According to Irfan Vark, deputy director of the Meteorological Department, the lightning forecasting equipment has been gifted by China. The above devices are radio frequency VLF (Verlow Frequency). Its installation will be ensured gradually in other cities of the country including Karachi.
Chief Meteorologist Sardar Sarfraz said that after the installation of advanced lightning detectors or early warning devices from China, it will be possible to provide early notification of this natural disaster throughout Pakistan, including the Thar desert of Sindh province. Also, the system will be available in any part of the country, these advanced instruments will be able to cover the amount of rainfall, the determination of thunderstorms and the probability of lightning.
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According to the Department of Meteorology, each detector can provide advance notice of lightning strikes in 100 square kilometers. Until now, there was no modern lightning strike warning system in Pakistan. The price of these devices is 10 million US dollars (Rs. is approx.
According to the Department of Meteorology, lightning hazard areas will be identified on local radio and social networking websites as well. Through this publicity at the public level, the people living in the area can be saved and all possible protective measures can be taken for them.
In Tharparkar, a desert region of Sindh bordering India, there has been an enormous increase in the number of lightning strikes over the past few years. In the second week of November 2019, more than two dozen people were killed and more than 100 cattle were killed due to lightning strikes in Tharpakar during the heavy rains, 22 in 2020, 10 in 2021, 8 in 2022, while May this year. As a result of lightning, 6 people lost their lives.
The number of household pets killed in these consecutive lightning strikes over the past 8 years has been in the hundreds.
