New Delhi: The Union Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan on the 146th Foundation Day of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said that IMD has been playing a significant role in protecting lives and livelihoods from the adverse effects of extreme weather events since its establishment in 1875.
He highlighted that forecasting monsoons, which are a lifeline to our food security, has resulted in not only an improvement of the economy but also reducing the loss of lives due to monsoonal floods and droughts.
He said, “IMD has been continuously redefining its focus for accurate Prediction of Monsoon and cyclones as our GDP is mainly based on agriculture. It has succeeded in minimizing loss of lives from various extreme events like a cyclone, heavy rain, thunderstorm, heat wave, and cold wave, etc. in recent years with its precise forecasting and timely warnings.”
The Minister pointed out, “Recently in the last monsoon season, IMD introduced Flash flood Guidance for all 30,000 watersheds of the country every 6 hours. Flash flood Guidance is also provided to Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka every 6 hours.”
Dr. Harsh Vardhan inaugurated Doppler Weather Radars at Mukteshwar, Uttarakhand and Kufri, Himachal Pradesh; Multi-Mission Meteorological Data Receiving and Processing System in IMD in collaboration with ISRO (MMORPG) and released Report on Cyclone disturbances during 2020.
Vardhan said, “India Meteorological Department is modernizing its observational network in the Central and Western Himalayas by the installation of state of art Doppler Weather Radars in a phased manner, at different locations. This radar will be providing severe weather information to the weather forecasters thus improving the service being provided by the Department catering to the welfare and safety of the public in the states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. It will also provide valuable support to the disaster managers and the pilgrims undertaking the pilgrimage to Kailash Manasarovar and Char Dham yatra.”
Trivendra Singh Rawat, CM Uttarakhand, and Jai Ram Thakur, CM Himachal Pradesh applauded the IMD for its great services in meteorological forecasting that helps the two hilly states in saving lives and property.
Director-General, IMD, Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said, “The accuracy has increased by about 15-40% for different severe weather events forecast during the last five years. The thunderstorm warning is being provided for all districts and 894 cities and towns.”
Apart from Dr. Harsh Vardhan; Secretary, MoES, Dr. M. Rajeevan; Director-General, IMD, Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra; Joint Secretary, MoES, Dr. Vipin Chandra; Anand Sharma, Head / Sc-G, Chairman, Organising Committee and several officials of MoES and IMD were present on the occasion while Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Trivendra Singh Rawat; Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Jai Ram Thakur and former DGs of IMD joined virtually.