FM University launches Sachetanata Ratha to sensitize people on lightning

BHUBANESWAR: Fakir Mohan University Balasore has launched district level lightning monitoring and awareness programme by reaching almost every household in the district of Balasore with an aim to make the fatalities due to lightning zero.
In the first phase, the university has chosen 12 degree colleges as nodal centres of each block in Balasore. Through these centres and their NSS units, the university is trying to make the people aware by playing awareness chariots (Sachetanata Ratha) in the district.
Northern part of Odisha is one of the most lightning prone areas of the country due to its geographical condition and occupational structure. The region has reported many deaths due to lightning. Keeping this problem in mind, the university has started this awareness programme after signing a memorandum of understanding with the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Fakir Mohan University vice-chancellor Santosh Kumar Tripathy said the state is expected to experience massive lightning during the pre-monsoon season, which starts in April. This programme was intentionally instituted in the month of March so that the people will get maximum benefit out of it, he added.
University sources said there has been an overwhelming response to the program with thousands of villagers and students joining in this noble cause. The NSS volunteers go to villages for distributing leaflets to the villagers, make them aware of the dos and don’ts during lightning and geotag the lightning deaths.
The official statement said the university plans to take up different schools as nodal centres for deeper penetration into the society. The university also plans to move to other districts as well with this awareness program in the coming years.