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Unhappy With The India Meteorological Department, Kerala Switches To Private Firms For Accurate Weather Updates
Writer: Devyani Madaik
A media enthusiast, Devyani believes in learning on the job and there is nothing off limits when it comes to work. Writing is her passion and she is always ready for a debate as well.
Kerala, 23 Jun 2020 1:25 PM GMT
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A state government officials told the media that IMD was unable to match the government's requirement due to disagreements over the location of the Automated Weather Stations.
The Kerala Government will be funding private firms for providing alerts and warnings about extreme climate events, citing dissatisfaction with the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
In the order issued on June 19 by the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), also viewed by The Hindu, the government has authorised ₹95 lakh to three private companies — Skymet Private Ltd, Earth Networks and IBM Weather Company.
It is for the first time that the state government will be funding private firms for receiving weather updates, and this comes in the light of the state's concern over extreme weather preparedness, after the 2019 floods.
The government had earlier issued an order on April 30, terming weather inputs by the IMD as inadequate.
Currently, there are only 15 Automated Weather Stations (AWS) in the State. The KSDMA had transferred land for establishing 73 more, and the IMD had promised to set up 15 new AWS before the 2020 monsoon season but were unable to provide the services, along with the near time data streaming which is minimal to nil.
"With such an unreliable network, the State will not be able to localise alerts. None of the major requirements of the State have been met and this impedes disaster management capabilities of the State," the letter read.
One of the officials from the state department informed the media that IMD was unable to accede to the government's requirement because of disagreements over the location of the AWS.
After cyclone Ockhi claimed the lives of several fishermen in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in 2017, IMD had committed to installing 100 AWS, and could only be installed as per a pre-defined IMD protocol. "The state government wanted the IMD to install AWS in a few places and it could not follow suit," said the official.
Skymet CEO Jatin Singh said that his company had already created an app called 'Kerala Rain' to issue 15-day forecasts and real-time monitoring for weather stations.
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