New Delhi [India], June 5 : Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh inaugurated the new Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) at Jammu today and announced that a similar centre would soon be established in Lucknow, expanding India’s regional weather forecasting network.
According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences, the Jammu facility has become the country’s seventh Regional Meteorological Centre and will serve Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh by providing specialised weather services, disaster warnings and climate support tailored to the Himalayan region.
The Minister said the new centre would strengthen weather monitoring, forecasting and early-warning systems in a region characterised by diverse terrain ranging from plains to high-altitude mountains. It will provide district-level forecasts, mountain weather forecasts, tourist advisories, city-specific weather services and warnings for flash floods, cloudbursts, avalanches, heavy snowfall, thunderstorms and landslides.
The services are expected to benefit pilgrims undertaking the Amarnath and Vaishno Devi yatras, farmers, transport operators, hydropower projects, disaster management agencies and security forces operating in difficult terrain.
Highlighting the expansion of meteorological infrastructure in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh over the past decade, Jitendra Singh said there was no Doppler Weather Radar in the region in 2014, whereas four are now operational at Jammu, Srinagar, Leh and Banihal Top.
Under Mission Mausam, five additional Doppler Weather Radars have been proposed for Anantnag, Rajouri, Baramulla, Kishtwar and Doda.
The observational network has also expanded substantially. The region currently has 56 observatories, including 15 manual observatories, 25 Automatic Weather Stations (AWSs) and 16 Automatic Rain Gauges (ARGs), compared to 13 AWSs and 14 ARGs in 2014. Recently, AWSs have been installed at Kargil, Ukhral in Ramban district and Mata Vaishno Devi Bhawan.
During the current financial year, nearly eight more AWSs and five ARGs are expected to be installed. The number of stations under the Daily Rainfall Monitoring Scheme has increased from 30 in 2014 to 85 at present, significantly improving rainfall monitoring and forecasting capabilities.
Singh said the establishment of RMC Jammu marks an important restructuring of the India Meteorological Department’s regional operations.
Until now, the Regional Meteorological Centre in Delhi coordinated weather and climate services for Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
With the creation of the Jammu centre, weather services for Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh will be managed from Jammu, while the proposed Lucknow centre will cater to Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Union Minister also highlighted several scientific and institutional initiatives undertaken in the region. The Meteorological Centre at Srinagar has signed collaborations with Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST)-Jammu, SKUAST-Kashmir and the Islamic University of Science and Technology to strengthen research and capacity-building in weather and climate sciences.
He also referred to the High-Altitude Cloud Physics Laboratory established at Patnitop in collaboration with Swiss scientific institutions for cloud and aerosol studies in the Himalayan region.
On earthquake monitoring, Jitendra Singh said the Jammu and Kashmir seismological network has undergone major modernisation, with seismic stations at Jammu and Kashmir upgraded to digital systems and an additional observatory established at Udhampur.
A new seismological observatory has also been proposed in Kishtwar. At present, five seismic stations are operational across Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, transmitting near real-time data to the National Centre for Seismology.
The Minister announced that an Automatic Weather Station and a seismology centre would be established in Kishtwar following last year’s disaster in the district. He also noted that the Srinagar Meteorological Observatory, which has been functioning for over a century, has been recognised by the World Meteorological Organisation as a Centennial Observing Station.
“Now there will be regional forecasts, district-wise forecasts, separate forecasts for tourists and separate mountain forecasts,” Jitendra Singh said, adding that customised forecasting would help address the specific needs of the Himalayan region.
Emphasising the role of weather services in disaster management, he said, “Flash floods, cloudbursts, avalanches, heavy snowfall, thunderstorms and landslides all of these will be forecast in a timely manner.” (ANI)