The Doppler weather radar network will cover the entire country by 2025 for more accurate forecasts related to extreme weather events, Union minister Jitendra Singh has said. In his address at an event marking India Meteorological Department (IMD)’s 148th foundation day on Sunday, Singh spoke about the proactive steps taken to increase the network since 2014 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government was voted to power.
Singh inaugurated four Doppler weather radar systems in Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh as well as 200 agro-automated weather stations. The government plans to establish 660 district agro-meteorological units by 2025. Singh said the loss of lives due to cyclones and heat waves has been reduced to single or double-digit figures due to the response action by the disaster managers and the public under the umbrella of National Disaster Management Plans, guidelines, and SOPs the present government introduced.
Singh lauded the IMD for the impact-based weather forecasts and risk-based warnings at the city and district levels considering hazard, vulnerability, and risk assessment in a geospatial platform.
IMD chief Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said there has been a 40-50% improvement in the last five years in their severe weather forecast, including heavy rainfall, thunderstorm, fog, and cold waves. He added the IMD plans to upgrade the existing Doppler radars to eliminate uncertainties in rainfall estimates.
Mohapatra said “the flood warning system introduced for Mumbai in July 2020 has helped in better management of heavy rainfall events and floods in the city. Similar system has also been implemented in Chennai and is being extended to Kolkata, Guwahati, and Delhi in coming years as the flash floods and urban floods in recent years have posed new threats”.
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