India has begun a fresh restructuring of its regional weather forecasting network, with the launch of a new Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Jammu to serve Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh, while a separate centre is planned in Lucknow for Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh inaugurated the Jammu centre on Thursday, 5 June.
The facility has become India’s seventh Regional Meteorological Centre and will provide specialised forecasting, early warnings and climate-related services for the Himalayan region.
The new centre 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 support pilgrims undertaking the Amarnath and Vaishno Devi yatras, farmers, transport operators, hydropower projects, disaster management agencies and security forces operating in difficult terrain.
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.
The proposed Lucknow centre will cater to Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, marking a decentralisation of IMD’s northern forecasting operations.
Singh said the Jammu centre would strengthen weather monitoring, forecasting and early-warning systems in a region marked by diverse terrain, ranging from plains to high-altitude mountains.
The minister also highlighted the expansion of meteorological infrastructure in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh over the past decade.
The region had no Doppler Weather Radar in 2014, while four such radars are now operational at Jammu, Srinagar, Leh and Banihal Top, he said.
Under Mission Mausam, five additional Doppler Weather Radars have been proposed at Anantnag, Rajouri, Baramulla, Kishtwar and Doda.
The observational network in the region has also expanded.
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It currently has 56 observatories, including 15 manual observatories, 25 Automatic Weather Stations and 16 Automatic Rain Gauges. In 2014, the region had 13 Automatic Weather Stations and 14 Automatic Rain Gauges.
Automatic Weather Stations have recently been installed at Kargil, Ukhral in Ramban district and Mata Vaishno Devi Bhawan.
During the current financial year, nearly eight more Automatic Weather Stations and five Automatic Rain Gauges 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, improving rainfall monitoring and forecasting capabilities.
Singh also referred to the High-Altitude Cloud Physics Laboratory at Patnitop, established in collaboration with Swiss scientific institutions for cloud and aerosol studies in the Himalayan region.
On earthquake monitoring, the minister said the Jammu and Kashmir seismological network has been modernised, with seismic stations 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.
Singh also announced that an Automatic Weather Station and a seismology centre would be established in Kishtwar following last year’s disaster in the district.
“Now there will be regional forecasts, district-wise forecasts, separate forecasts for tourists and separate mountain forecasts,” Singh said, adding that customised forecasting would help address the specific needs of the Himalayan region.
He said warnings for flash floods, cloudbursts, avalanches, heavy snowfall, thunderstorms and landslides would be issued in a timely manner.
