New Delhi: Delhi is set to receive a massive upgrade in its weather and rain forecast system, said Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, on July 8th, at a special high-level meeting convened by him to address public concerns and inputs in the wake of the ongoing monsoon season across the country, including the national capital.

Everything possible will be done, he said, to make the forecast system people-friendly to ensure convenience and ease of living for citizens and to mitigate the economic impact of unexpected weather changes.

Presently, Delhi has 17 Automatic Weather Forecast Centres. The Minister directed that 50 more systems be installed at the earliest, with the aim to eventually reach 100. The goal is to bring the number of AWS to 100 and align it with world standards. These automatic weather forecasting systems provide very specific, precise, and timely forecasts.

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Earth Sciences, MoS PMO, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space, and MoS Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh, convened a high-level meeting on the Delhi monsoon, particularly for the National Capital Region. He reviewed the upgrade of weather forecasting systems across the country.

On the upgrade front, Dr. Jitendra Singh shared that 3 radars and 180 automatic weather forecasting systems will be installed in Delhi NCR in the near future. In Mumbai, 2 radars have been installed and 4 more are in the pipeline. In Chennai, 3 radars already exist, and one more will be installed in Kolkata.

Dr. Jitendra Singh said, “Not only in metro cities, this upgrade will continue in other cities as well, cities with more than 10 lakh population, and will be replicated in tier towns and other remote areas.”

The Minister of State for Earth Sciences informed that the IMD is embarking on a huge upgrade with future-ready advanced weather prediction models strengthened with long period average (LPA) data.

Dr. Jitendra Singh also informed that a high-performance computing (HPC) system with a capacity of 20 petaflops will be installed as part of the upgrade. The minister lauded the efforts of IMD in sharing data with district authorities, the armed forces, and disaster management authorities to play a pivotal role in disaster risk reduction. The IMD is continuously improving weather forecast systems to help the common man and share the benefits of world-class weather forecasting technology.

The Earth Sciences Minister, who is also the Minister for the Department of Space, highlighted the multiple advantages of the new space policy and new geospatial policy. He also mentioned the recently launched Geoportals and their applications. He guided that similar efforts could be made in weather forecasting to create a larger and wider impact on society. He also said that while many people may not understand the criticality of forecasting systems, in recent years the forecasting and early warning systems have greatly benefited fishermen.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision is to empower farmers, fishermen, and the common man through these weather forecasting systems, said Dr. Jitendra Singh while guiding the IMD team.

Dr. Mrityunjay Mohapatra, DG IMD, and other senior officials of IMD and the Ministry of Earth Sciences were present at the meeting. /BI