Phyan blew forecast away: IMD

Yet,panic brewed as the IMD warned that it expected Mumbai to be impacted,located as it was within the wing span of the storm. The civic disaster management department was alerted,schools and offices were asked to shut down by 2 pm and the city was put on an “orange” alert,one level below the “red alert” issued for severe cyclones. Low-lying areas like Worli,Bandra,Juhu,Versova and Malad were asked to be extra cautious.

Today,Ajit Tyagi,the Director-General of Meteorology,New Delhi,told The Indian Express that those predictions had been inaccurate. “To optimally improve our forecasting system we must arrange for collecting regular data from the Arabian Sea from various agencies. I also urge the state government to move fast in installing the Doppler radar,” he said.

Mumbai was promised a Doppler radar in the aftermath of the deluge of 2005 but getting one was delayed for years as the Met department could not find a suitable location to install it. It was finally decided to install it atop a building in Navy Nagar but the Defence Ministry recently refused to allow technicians from the Chinese manufacturer into the sensitive area. The high-tech radar,which emits microwaves that peek inside moving weather systems and help more accurate forecasts,would have been the first on the western coast. Authorities are now looking for a new location.

Tyagi was in Mumbai to attend a two-day programme organised by IMD to discuss natural disasters such as cyclones and floods with government departments. Representatives of the civic departments of Mumbai and Ahmedabad,disaster management authorities of Maharashtra and Gujarat,the Railways,airports,defence forces and the Coast Guard took part in the workshop.

“In the state,the ONGC,the Coast Guard and the Navy collect data from the Arabian Sea on tidal,current movements etc. We acquire limited data on the sea,but much more is required to study a storm or cyclone. Our attempt will be to get such data in place by this year’s monsoon,” said Dr R V Sharma,Deputy Director-General of IMD.

Phyan was measured to have a vortex with an intensity of T 2.5 to 3 and is said to have moved very fast,at about 450 kph before landfall. The T Scale measures tornado intensity in a range between T 0 and T 11,with the latter being the strongest.