At least 21 people were killed in lightning strikes in 12 districts of Bihar in the past 24 hours.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar announced an ex gratia of ₹4 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and appealed to the people to stay indoors during the inclement weather.

Among the deaths, six were in Madhubani, four in Aurangabad and two in Patna districts. The rest were scattered in Rohtas, Bhojpur, Jehanabad, Saran, Kaimur, Gopalganj, Lakhisarai, Madhepura and Supaul.

The majority of the people killed were either transplanting paddy in fields, grazing cattle or had taken shelter under trees to shield themselves from the rain.

Moreover, 18 students, all girls, were seriously injured in a thunderbolt strike in the Tarari block of Bhojpur district on Thursday. They were returning home after their classes and had taken shelter under a tree when it started raining.

The state is grappling with lightning strikes with around 67 people losing their lives in July so far. Over 177 people have been killed across the state in such incidents this year, including 60 since the start of the monsoon in mid-June.

Worried over the spate of deaths, the state government has been putting out advertisements about dos and don’ts during rains and thunderstorms.

It has been working on several steps to reduce the number of deaths, including the installation of lightning arresters to secure a certain area from thunderbolt strikes and save lives, but none of them succeeded so far.

“We feel ashamed and helpless as lives are being lost almost daily to lightning strikes. We wish we could stop them somehow. The entire south Bihar has become a belt of such incidents while sporadic incidents occur in north Bihar too,” Bihar State Disaster Management Authority vice-chairman Uday Kant Mishra told The Telegraph.