Lightening accidents:

Telecommunication towers to be examined

Disna MUDALIGE

The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) is collecting data pertaining to lightening accidents to ascertain the possible effect of telecommunication towers in this connection, Director General Anusha Pelpita told the Daily News yesterday.

He said that information is being collected in Kalutara District since it is reported to have the highest number of lightening related incidents.

He said that usually these towers are built according to the guidelines of the International Telecommunication Union. "However by evaluating this information we can decide on whether there is any relationship between lightening incidents and towers. This will help in formulating precautionary measures for public safety," he said.

He said that people in the Kalutara District were requested to inform the TRC on lightening accidents with full details such as address, time and the nature of accident.

"We started collecting data few weeks ago and will continue the process this month. The collected data will be analyzed later" he noted.