VICE President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday lauded the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for issuing timely forecasts of weather events such as cyclones that helped save lives on high seas and contain damage to vessels. Launching the yearlong 150th anniversary celebrations of IMD, Dhankhar said there was a time when rainfall forecasts issued by the weather office proved to be incorrect, due to lack of scientific progress, but now the predictions were precise, “down to seconds”. He said the IMD’s impact transcended mere weather forecasts and has emerged as a safety net, protecting national interests and shielding citizens from the wrath of nature. “From agriculture and healthcare to aviation and energy, its influence is omnipresent, touching the lives of every single citizen - from farmers tilling the land to jawans guarding our borders,” Dhankhar said. The Vice President also launched a mobile app of the IMD -- ‘Mausam’ -- that integrates all services offered by the weather office and unveiled new initiatives such as the Panchayat Mausam Seva, Decision Support System and the National Framework for Climate Services.

 

The function was attended by Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju, Earth Sciences Secretary M Ravichandran, IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, former Secretaries of the Ministry and former Directors General of IMD. “I could see inputs made available by IMD and the Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force acting in tandem with disaster management agencies and ensuring not a single mortality on high seas, hardly any damage to vessels, coastal areas were cleared,” Dhankhar said referring to the cyclone tracking services of the weather office. He said the days of fragmented disaster management were history and now a robust system ensured a predictable mechanism for financing not just response, but mitigation, preparedness, and recovery. “There was a time when IMD used to predict rains and there were no rains because there was little scientific progress. Now so much is the precision, it is by seconds,” the V-P said. In a lighter vein, Dhankhar, who is also the Rajya Sabha chairman, said he was looking forward to the day when the IMD could predict the weather conditions in both the Houses of Parliament.

 

Earlier, Earth Sciences Minister Rijiju said the IMD has installed 10 doppler weather radars in the western Himalayan region and was planning 11 doppler radars in the eastern Himalayan region. PM lauds IMD for exceptional service: PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Monday commended the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for its exceptional services to the nation, saying it has been instrumental in safeguarding lives. “Today we mark 150 years of the India Meteorological Department’s exceptional service to our nation. From pioneering weather forecasting to advancing climate research, IMD has been instrumental in safeguarding lives and enhancing our understanding of environment,” PM posted on X.