IMD Conducts Pre-Cyclone Exercise for April-June 2024 Season

New Delhi: The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) conducted a Pre-Cyclone Exercise today under the chairmanship of Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director General, IMD, at Mausam Bhavan, New Delhi, in a hybrid mode.

This biennial exercise, which is a part of the Pre-Cyclone Season and Post-Cyclone Season exercises, aimed to assess the preparedness of various stakeholders in disaster management. Dr. Mohapatra underscored India’s robust early warning system and advanced weather forecasting models, emphasizing IMD’s recent achievements in cyclone forecasting. He commended the collaborative efforts of organizations such as the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and the Indian Armed Forces in disaster management.

IMD has developed an indigenous Decision Support System with enhanced accuracy, reducing casualties during cyclones significantly. Dr. Mohapatra highlighted the deployment of a Multimodal Ensemble System for continuous monitoring of weather changes and the development of mobile apps for issuing warnings. He emphasized that IMD’s Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are accessible to other organizations for utilization.

Under the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project (NCRMP), NDMA has developed a Web-based Dynamic Composite Risk Atlas (Web-DCRA) for location-specific forecasting, benefiting district disaster managers.

As IMD celebrates its 150th year of service, Dr. Mohapatra expressed confidence in scaling new heights and providing weather information to every household through “HAR HAR MAUSAM and HAR GHAR MAUSAM” initiative, leveraging state-of-the-art technology and collaboration with various stakeholders.

Mohsen Shahedi, DIG (Ops & Training) NDRF, lauded IMD’s efforts and assured continued cooperation between NDMA, NDRF, and IMD. R K Agarwal, (PA & AO), NCRMP, highlighted the success achieved in the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation project through collaboration with IMD.

The exercise saw participation from various disaster management agencies, representatives from coastal states and union territories, as well as senior officials from key government departments and organizations, reaffirming a collective commitment to enhancing disaster preparedness and response capabilities.