High-end radar may not be ready this monsoon

After hearing fluctuating weather forecasts from the Meteorological Department over the past few days,Mumbai seems to be heading for rough days ahead as far as rainfall predictions are concerned.

After hearing fluctuating weather forecasts from the Meteorological Department over the past few days,Mumbai seems to be heading for rough days ahead as far as rainfall predictions are concerned. With strong winds blowing across the city and civil work remaining incomplete,it will be a long wait before the technologically-advanced Doppler Radar can be installed to give a real-time data on the climatic conditions and rainfall,hours before the actual downpour.

After a delay of four years,the Met Department had managed to import the advanced Doppler Radar from China in March. And at the monsoon preparedness meeting,Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had directed the department to install the radar by June 30. There is still some civil work left for strengthening the building. Moreover,the weather is windy now and it will be difficult to instal the radar, said deputy director general,IMD (Western region),RV Sharma. It will not be possible to instal the radar by June 30.

Though the department had predicted an early arrival of monsoon,the city is still awaiting regular showers. The forecast has been fluctuating everyday,with weathermen now predicting the arrival in the next 48 hours (see box). Mumbai,prone to floods every monsoon in case of a combination of high tide and heavy rainfall,is bracing itself for the highest tide in 100 years on July 24 at 5.5 metres. However,the radar may not be commissioned by then.

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The Centre had promised the 10 cm S-band cyclone radar with advanced technology to the city following the 26/7 deluge in 2005. The weather forecasters had only warned of heavy rainfall then (70 mm to above 120 mm),but what the city received was a 944-mm deluge,result of an offshore vortex a heavy downpour but extremely localised,spread over as little as 30 km.

Part of the modernisation programme of Indian Meteorological Department,the Rs 12-crore radar was scheduled to be installed atop the 16-storey Archana Building in Naval Colony in Colaba. However,the building which itself was finalised after much delay owing to non-availability of location that can offer an unobstructed view of five km needs to be structurally upgraded to bear the weight of the radar. A team of experts from the Chinese company,which customised the radar,is expected to visit the city for installation.

We have written to the Chinese company regarding the installation,but it may take some time before the radar can be commissioned, Dr Sharma said.

The radar will be a first of its kind to be installed on the western coast. A Doppler Radar emits microwaves that peek inside moving weather systems and bounce back signs that weathermen analyse to issue cyclone or thunderstorm warnings.

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Monsoon in 48 hours
The monsoon has arrived in Alibaug,Pune,Solapur and Hyderabad. The weathermen have predicted its arrival in the city within 48 hours.Though there was a formation in the Arabian Sea,which the IMD believed push the Southwest monsoon to Mumbai,it has now taken a westward direction. The conditions will be favourable within 48 hours for the monsoon to arrive, said K Sathidevi,director,IMD Mumbai.

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