New Delhi, April 24 -- At least 162 people were killed by lightning strikes across 12 Indian states between March 2025 and April 17, 2025 - a staggering 184 per cent rise compared with 57 fatalities recorded last year between March 2024 and April 2024. An analysis of data from the Extreme Weather Events Atlas by the Centre for Science and Environment and Down to Earth (DTE), along with publicly available data from disaster management authorities, shows that this has been the deadliest March-April period for lightning since 2022.

The first 17 days of April 2025 alone accounted for 142 deaths, a fivefold increase over April 2024, which saw just 28 lightning fatalities. Comparing just the month of March, lightning strikes claimed 20 lives t...