Govt plans to take agromet service to block level: Min

The government plans to extend the agromet services and weather forecast down to the district and block level in next three years, Minister for Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan said here today.
But, Secretary of Ministry of Earth Sciences, M Nair Rajeevan pointed out the shortage of man power in the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and need for the department to change its strategy in giving forecast.
"The focus of the new initiatives taken by the Department for accelerating its capabilities and services is to further improve the accuracy of prediction of extreme weather events at city, block and district level," Vardhan said while speaking on the IMD's 141st Foundation Day here.

He further added that the agromet services was already in place in 130 districts.
"In next three years, we plan to cover all the 600 plus districts of the country and also take it (agromet service) to the block level," Vardhan said.
Rajeevan, while speaking on the occasion, noted that a lot was needed to be done in the IMD, especially in terms of man power and Research and Development (R&D).

"When I joined the strength of the department was around 8000. Now it is around 4000-4500. We need trained people for not only the operational purposes, but also for R&D. A country like China has over 22,000 people working in the MeT department," the Secretary said.

He said the "Monsoon Mission" launched by the Ministry will help in better predicting monsoon, which is the lifeline of the sub-continent's economy, adding that we really need strategy for the way we predict.
"By 2017, there will be a new Advanced Coupled Data Simulation System which can help in giving better predictions for monsoon."
Emphasising on the need for R&D, Rajeevan said with the erratic weather pattern becoming more frequent, the MeT department on "improved observation".
Hailing the role of the IMD in country's growth, Vardhan said "accurate" prediction done by the MeT department and SMS services related to agromet and warning to fishermen, has left a positive impact on the GDP by over Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh crore. He said over 1.15 crore farmers use the SMS and agri-portal services, which helps them to avoid short-term and long-term negative impacts.

The Minister also launched System of Aerosol Monitoring AndResearch(SAMAR) which is a network of16 Aethalometers, 12Sky radiometers and12 Nephelometersto study black-carbon concentration, aerosol radiative properties, environmental visibility respectively and their climatological impacts.
Founded in 1875, the IMD plays a pivotal role considering its mandate of predicting monsoon and other weather patterns.