India to have Doppler Weather Radar Network by 2025: Jitendra Singh

Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said that under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, the number of radars has increased from 15 to 37 in the last eight years

Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh on Sunday said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the number of radars has increased from 15 to 37 in the last eight years and 25 more radars are to be added in the next five years for the universal coverage of the country.

While delivering the Keynote Address on the occasion of the 148th Foundation Day of India Meteorological Department (IMD) here, Singh dedicated 4 Doppler Weather Radar Systems to the Western Himalayan States of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. He also dedicated 200 Agro Automated Weather Stations to the Nation. The Minister also released eight publications of the IMD and gave away awards to school children and also felicitated the best performing offices and officers of IMD.

Singh informed that 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 Minister pointed out that the warning and advisory services are helping farmers and fishermen to improve their economy as found in the latest survey by National Centre for Applied Economic Research. For example, the investment in the monsoon mission programme has resulted in a return of 50 rupees for the investment of each rupee.

The Minister further added that the farmers below the poverty line especially have benefited immensely as Agromet Advisories at District and Block Levels are used effectively by crores of farmers during various stages of farming and the service is being expanded.

The web GIS services launched by IMD last year have been augmented further with the addition of hazard and vulnerability elements in collaboration with other state and central agencies is helping the public, disaster managers, and stakeholders to initiate timely response action to mitigate the disasters further, the Minister noted.

Singh said, Climate Services are very important for short and long-term planning and strategy development and IMD has already initiated these services in five major thrust areas of Agriculture, Health, Water, Energy, and Disaster Risk Reduction and has lined up plans to expand them through the customization of products. He said, soon a National Framework will be created on priority to provide climate products and information for Sectoral applications.