NEW DELHI, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in eastern Indian Jharkhand state are introducing school lessons on lightning prevention and protection, the Telegraph reported Monday.

Jharkhand's Human Resource Development (HRD) department said the move was being initiated on the basis recommendations of a committee set up by the state's high court in May this year. The committee was constituted after a rise of lightning deaths was reported, the Telegraph newspaper said.

"Apart from including a chapter in the school syllabus, we are also seriously thinking of generating mass awareness through radio, television and billboards. These programs will focus more on rural areas due to its susceptibility to lightning," it quoted an unnamed senior state HRD official and a committee member as saying.

A study has found that Jharkhand is highly prone to lightning because of its high altitude -- about 222 to 1,142 meters above the sea level, a state university expert said, according to the report.