“In the mountains, like it has happened at Joshimath, there are a number of areas in Himachal Pradesh as well which are gradually experiencing land subsidence. If the right solutions and mitigation measures are not taken at the right time, there could be widespread devastation,” Sukhu said while virtually addressing the 148th Foundation Day of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) held at Mausam Bhavan in New Delhi.
“In the mountains, people have been building as they please,” Sukhu added, “From this perspective, and the fact that Himachal Pradesh is also a seismic prone area, you need to pay attention to the state.’’
Earth Sciences Minister Jitendra Singh was the Chief Guest at the event. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami who was also to virtually address the gathering, left the meeting early for an “urgent meeting in New Delhi.’’
Singh, meanwhile, dedicated four Doppler Weather Radar Systems to Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. He jointly inaugurated two Doppler Radar systems at Murari Devi and Jot in Himachal Pradesh along with Sukhu, one at Surkanda in Uttarakhand along with Dhami, and another in Banihal Top in J&K with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, who was to deliver the keynote address, was not present at the event.
Thanking Singh for the DWRs, Sukhu said: “The Dopplers that have been installed will cover at least 80% of Kinnaur and Lahaul Spiti, but there is still 30% where cloudbursts keep occurring. Lahaul-Spiti is the largest district in Himachal Pradesh and second largest in India where there is snow, glaciers and rivers. Kinnaur is near the the China border, more attention must be given to these areas.’’
In his address, Singh said the IMD had taken pro-active steps to increase the Radar network in the country from mere 15 in 2013 to 37 in 2023. The government will be adding 25 more Radars in the next few years, he said, adding the accuracy of the severe weather forecast has increased “by 20-40%’’ in the last five years.
“Under Agro-Meteorological Services, it is targeted to establish 660 District Agro Meteorological Units (DAMUs) by 2025 and increase from 3,100 blocks in 2023 to 7,000 blocks in 2025. The warning and advisory services are helping farmers and fishermen to improve their economy as found from a latest survey by the National Centre for Applied Economic Research. For example, the investment in the monsoon mission programme has resulted in a return of 50 rupees for investment of each one rupee,” he said.
Stating that the Radars and the satellite data processing system launched last year was “another feather” in IMD’s cap, he said the weather body has made significant contributions to global safety and economic development by acting as a regional and global centre for weather and climate forecasting.
The recently introduced Flash Flood Guidance was being provided “every 6 hours to Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka apart from our national use’’, he added.
Dr M Ravichandran, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, said the IMD has augmented its specialized services for important sectors like power, railway, tourism, health, urban energy, environment etc, aiming to contribute for national economic development.
In his welcome address, Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director General of Meteorology(IMD), said the IMD has initiated adequate measures like installing Doppler Radars in hilly areas of Western Himalayas and
major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai.
He said that the IMD will put up radars in other cities and North Eastern States during the next 5 years, and that the IMD targets a total of 62 DWR by 2025.
Dr Mohapatra said that Urban flood warning systems, which had been introduced in Mumbai in 2020, and later Chennai, were also being planned for Kolkata, Guwahati and Delhi.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (PTI File) 
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