New Delhi: Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh announced a significant upgrade to Delhi’s weather and rain forecast system at a special high-level meeting today, aimed at addressing public concerns during the ongoing monsoon season across the country, including the national capital.
Dr. Singh emphasized that the upgraded forecast system would be made more people-friendly to ensure convenience, ease of living, and to mitigate the economic fallout of unexpected weather changes. Currently, Delhi has 17 Automatic Weather Forecast Centers. The Minister directed the installation of 50 additional systems at the earliest, with a future goal of increasing the number to 100, bringing the system on par with world standards. These automatic weather forecasting systems provide highly specific, precise, and timely forecasts.
Dr. Jitendra Singh, who serves as 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, convened the high-level meeting to review the upgradation of weather forecasting systems across the country, with a particular focus on the Delhi NCR region.
In his address, Dr. Singh shared plans for installing 3 radars and 180 automatic weather forecasting systems in the Delhi NCR area. He noted that Mumbai currently has 2 radars installed, with 4 more in the pipeline, while Chennai has 3 existing radars and Kolkata will receive one additional radar. He assured that this upgrade initiative would extend beyond metro cities to other cities with populations over 10 lakh, and eventually to tier towns and remote areas.
The Minister highlighted the Indian Meteorological Department’s (IMD) extensive upgrade plans, including advanced weather prediction models strengthened with long-period average (LPA) data. He also announced the installation of a high-performance computing (HPC) system with a capacity of 20 petaflops as part of the upgrade.
Dr. Singh lauded the IMD’s efforts in sharing data with district authorities, the armed forces, and disaster management authorities, which play a crucial role in disaster risk reduction. He underscored the continuous improvement of weather forecast systems to benefit the common man and leverage world-class weather forecasting technology.
As the Minister for the Department of Space, Dr. Singh highlighted the multi-fold advantages of the new space and geospatial policies, including recently launched Geoportals and their applications. He suggested that similar efforts in weather forecasting could create a broader societal impact. He noted that while many people may not fully appreciate the criticality of forecasting systems, they have significantly benefited fishermen and farmers in recent years.
Dr. Singh reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of empowering farmers, fishermen, and the common man through advanced weather forecasting systems. He guided the IMD team to continue their efforts towards achieving this vision.
Dr. Mrityunjay Mohapatra, Director General of IMD, and other senior officials from the IMD and the Ministry of Earth Sciences were present at the meeting, where they provided their insights and committed to supporting the upgrade initiative.