From December,you may get weather updates through SMS

Registering with the service would enable people to get information about rainfall,temperature,humidity etc over the phone. “Warnings about apprehended drastic weather changes will also be sent to the service users. In case people need to be cautious,they will be informed so in the message,” said Paul.

However,the department is still working on contents of the message. “We are going to invite suggestions from the public through our website on how they want the SMS service to be. If all goes well,users will be updated every three hours like it happens through the website,” he said.

“We need to gear up now,given the low penetration of Internet. We have realised that the information dissemination system needs to be better and has to make more efficient use of technology,” he added.

Till now the website of the Meteorological Department is the only source for getting information on weather directly from the department. There are also plans to revamp the website as well.

“We also plan to make the website more user-friendly. While we will soon add an option welcoming suggestions for the service on the website,interested people would be able to register for the same on it soon,” said Paul.

According to the official at the Met Department,if the service gets a good response,it would then be expanding weather updates on Mohali and Panchkula and eventually other districts of Punjab and Haryana. Also,the department will include separate weather updates for the cities of Mohali and Panchkula from mid-October. While a weather station has already been set up in Panchkula,work on installation of the same at Mohali is yet to begin.