India, Dec. 23 -- Lightning kills more people in India than any other natural disaster, yet remains an understated threat because it is a dispersed extreme weather event, experts said at a recent national conference in New Delhi.

India needs to significantly strengthen its ground-based instrument networks to detect lightning, establish high-voltage laboratories to test equipment, and expand public awareness programmes, according to speakers at the 9th National Lightning Conference held at Prithvi Bhavan in New Delhi on December 22, 2025.

In a rapidly warming world, the intensity and frequency of thunderstorms and the lightning strikes associated with them are increasing. Experts said the phenomenon needs to be better understood through ...