Newsmaker: K J Ramesh

In the weather management cockpit

Meteorology is defined as an inter-disciplinary study of the atmosphere. Disaster management is part of that science. If you can precisely predict an unusual meteorological development, the job of managing the impending disaster becomes that much easier. It is in this field that K J Ramesh, the new head of India Meteorological Department, has expertise. Replacing Lakshman Singh Rathore as the next director-general of IMD, he specialises in numerical weather prediction, hazard and climate risk management and early warning systems.

India loses thousands of lives every year to natural disasters. A 2015 report of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Management  estimates the annual loss in this country at $9.8 billion due to multi-hazard disasters. About 58.6 per cent of India’s landmass is prone to earthquakes and 8.5 per cent to cyclones.

Earthquakes can’t be predicted with precision but losses from other natural disasters which can be reduced with a clear early warning mechanism, something Ramesh will need to work on.

Born on July 26, 1959, he was till now an advisor on atmospheric science and climate services in the ministry of earth sciences, a job he has been holding since 2007.

Having spent almost 10 years (1984-1994) at the Indian Institute of Technology here for a doctoral degree, Ramesh is known for his work on monsoon research. He did his master’s in meteorology from Andhra University. Before his current job as advisor, Ramesh was in the disaster management cell of the department of science and technology (DST) in 2005-2007. Before that, he was technical head at disaster management with the government of Andhra Pradesh in 2001-2005, a period when a deadly tsunami struck the east coast of India, killing at least 10,000 people.

From 1994 to 2001, Ramesh was at the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting under the DST. With about 50 reviewed research publications, Ramesh has also been part of the Indian delegation on climate change negotiations, including the recent COP-21. He has been a member of the National Disaster Management Authority and was part of one of the core groups that developed the guidelines on cyclones, floods and  disaster communication.

Ramesh has also been part of several multi-lateral weather and meteorological bodies, including the World Meteorological Organisation. As climate change and rapid, unplanned urbanisation threatens widespread damage to urban India in the event of big natural disaster, IMD and its new DG have a big task ahead. PAST 5 HEADS OF IMD

L S Rathore
Feb 2012 to July 2016

Ajit Tyagi
Mar 2008 to Jan 2012

S K Srivastava
Jan 2004 to Jan 2005

R R Kelkar
Jan 1998 to Dec 2003

N Sen Roy
Oct 1992 to Dec 1997
Source: IMD