DHAKA, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Bangladeshi government has launched large-scale campaigns to grow palmyra palm trees as a natural defense against fatal lightning strikes.
Bangladeshi Disaster Management and Relief Minister Asadul Habib Dulu on Thursday inaugurated the campaign in a northern district of Bangladesh by planting seeds of tall palmyra palm trees that can divert lightning strikes away from people, specifically farmers working under the open sky.
The minister said Bangladesh is among the countries severely affected by climate-induced calamities, which are creating new types of challenges in the South Asian country.
Deaths due to lightning strikes are common in the densely populated Bangladesh in the months of March to May almost every year, as the weather changes from the dry season to the rainy summer season. ■