Entire India to be covered by Doppler Weather Radar: Dr Jitendra

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh delivering keynote address on the occasion of 148th Foundation Day of India Meteorological Department (IMD) at Mausam Bhawan, New Delhi, on Sunday.
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh delivering keynote address on the occasion of 148th Foundation Day of India Meteorological Department (IMD) at Mausam Bhawan, New Delhi, on Sunday.

Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Jan 15 : 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 said, entire India will be covered by Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) network by 2025 to predict extreme weather events more accurately and across the country.
Delivering keynote address on the occasion of 148th Foundation Day of India Meteorological Department (IMD) here, Dr Jitendra Singh took pride in the fact that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi Government, IMD has taken pro-active steps to increase the Radar Network from mere 15 in 2013 to 37 in 2023 and will add 25 more in next 2-3 years.
Pushkar Singh Dhami, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Sukhvinder Singh Sukku Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Manoj Sinha, LG, UT of Jammu and Kashmir, Dr M. Ravichandran, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director General of Meteorology, IMD, D S Pandiyan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, S.C. Bhan, Scientist-G, Chairman, Organizing Committee joined the Foundation Day event in Hybrid Mode.
Dr Jitendra Singh informed the Chief Ministers of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and LG of J&K, who joined the event virtually that IMD has augmented Doppler Weather Radar network in HP, Uttarakhand, Ladakh and J&K which will help further to predict extreme weather events more accurately.
Singh dedicated 4 Doppler Weather Radar Systems to the Western Himalayan States of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. He also dedicated 200 Agro Automated Weather Stations to the nation. The Minister also released eight publications of the IMD and gave away awards to school children and also felicitated the best performing offices and officers of IMD.
He informed that under Agro-Meteorological Services, it is targeted to establish 660 District Agro Meteorological Units (DAMUs) by 2025 and increase from 3,100 blocks in 2023 to 7,000 blocks in 2025.
The Minister pointed out that the warning and advisory services are helping farmers and fishermen to improve their economy as found from a latest survey by National Centre for Applied Economic Research.
He further added that the farmers below the poverty line specially have benefited immensely as Agromet Advisories at District and Block Levels are used effectively by crores of farmers during various stages of farming and the service is being expanded. The web GIS services launched by IMD last year have been augmented further with addition of hazard and vulnerability element in collaboration with other state and central agencies is helping the public, disaster managers and stakeholders.
Elaborating the impact of forecasting on human lives, Dr Jitendra Singh said, it has succeeded in minimizing loss of lives from various extreme events like cyclone, heavy rain, thunderstorm, heat wave and cold wave etc. in the recent years with its precise forecasting and timely warnings.
Dr Singh said, it is quite befitting to place on record that when India has assumed Presidency of G-20 in 2023, the IMD has also started to put its mark on Regional and Global Weather Eco-System.
Dr Jitendra Singh and Manoj Sinha, LG, UT of Jammu and Kashmir jointly inaugurated DWR at Banihal Top, with a range of 100 kilometers.
Earlier Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director General of Meteorology(IMD) said in his welcome address that IMD has initiated adequate measures like installing Doppler Radars in hilly areas of Western Himalayas and major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai.