NEW DELHI, July 30 : Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences, MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today informed the Lok Sabha about new Weather Forecast Mobile Apps like “Mausam”, “Meghdoot”, “Umang” and “Damini”, developed by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), for ease of accessing weather predictions by a common citizen, at any time and from anywhere.
In reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, the Minister stated that during the past few years, IMD has been continuously improving weather prediction services in terms of accuracy, lead time and associated impact. The new innovations include mobile App ‘MAUSAM’ for weather forecasting, ‘Meghdoot’ for Agromet advisory dissemination and ‘Damini’ for lightning alert. Similarly, IMD has launched seven of its services (Current Weather, Nowcast, City Forecast, Rainfall Information, Tourism Forecast, Warnings and Cyclone) with ‘UMANG’ mobile App for use by public, he added.
The reply further mentioned that IMD has started issuing a special bulletin related to winter weather systems (All India Multi-hazard Winter Warning Bulletin) which provide the details of colour coded warning for five days for the adverse weather elements, along with present weather scenario related to cold wave, cold day etc.
Dr Jitendra Singh stated that in the present scenario, India is second to none, in early warning services as well as in managing the disasters associated with Cyclones. India Meteorological Department has demonstrated its capability to provide early warning for Cyclones with high precision. With the help of such early warnings, the Government is able to mobilise evacuation operations in a timely manner, thereby saving lives & livelihood.
The cyclone forecast accuracy has significantly improved in recent years as has been demonstrated during cyclones Phailin (2013), Hudhud (2014), Vardah (2016), Titli (2018), Fani & Bulbul (2019), Amphan, Nisarga & Nivar (2020) and Tauktae & Yaas (2021). During recent years, the loss of life has been drastically reduced being limited to double digit figure in the recent years.
He said, IMD is effectively functioning and maintaining accurate weather forecasting services along with monitoring services for early detection of natural disasters.
Further, the Government of India has initiated the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project (NCRMP) with a view to address cyclone risks in the country. The overall objective of the Project is to undertake suitable structural and non-structural measures to mitigate the effects of cyclones in the coastal states and UTs of India.
IMD issues forecast & warnings for the weather elements for five days with an outlook for another two days as per usual practice. From National Weather Forecasting Centre (NWFC), IMD forecasts are given in sub-divisional scale whereas the Regional Weather Forecasting Centre (RWFC) and State Weather Forecasting Centre (SWFC) issue forecast and warning in district level and station level. Though the flood and drought warning are not the responsibilities of IMD, flood warning services of Central Water Commission (CWC) is supported by IMD, by providing observed and predicted rainfall.
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