Daltonganj/ Chatra/ Hazaribag: Four women, working in the agricultural fields, died when lightning struck Palamu, Chatra, and Hazaribag districts on Tuesday.Two women, engaged in farming activities, died when lightning struck Palhe Basdah village under Paton police station limits in Palamu district on Tuesday. The deceased have been identified as Soumitra Devi (45) and Manmati Devi (40). The doctor at the Paton community health centre, Shrawan Mehta, said, “Both the women were declared ‘brought dead’ to the hospital around 11.30 am. The bodies have been sent to the MMCH, Daltonganj, for post-mortem.”In another incident, a woman planting paddy in her field died after being struck by lightning during heavy rain on Tuesday in Madhavapur Tola of Kishanpur village under Tandwa police station area in Chatra district. The deceased was identified as Bilaso Devi (45). In Hazaribag, 35-year-old Sunita Devi died as lightning struck Kusumbha village under the Katkamdag police station limits in Hazaribag district when she was sowing paddy in her field on Tuesday. Sunita was brought to the Sheikh Bhikhari Medical College and Hospital in Hazaribag, where the doctor declared her brought dead. The body has been sent for post-mortem examination.Farmers have begun sowing paddy after heavy rain, which has lashed the state for the past few days, stopped.Ranchi office of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert across the state for Wednesday for potential thunderstorm and lightning activities accompanied by gusty wind speeds of up to 30-40 kmph.Several places across the state on Tuesday experienced rain and lightning activities. Jamshedpur received 2.7 mm, Daltonganj 9.3 mm, Bokaro 3 mm, Latehar 32.5 mm, the highest in the state. While Palamu experienced 4.5 mm rain, Garhwa 3.5 mm, and Simdega received 0.5 mm rain on Tuesday.Ranchi recorded a maximum temperature of 31.3 °C on Tuesday, Jamshedpur 34 °C, Daltonganj 31.8 °C, Bokaro 32.1 °C and Chaibasa recorded 35.4 °C.
