Rs 900 cr weather forecast system on the anvil

New Delhi, Aug 24 (UNI) Admitting that India does not have a system to forecast rise in water level of rivers to alert people about impending floods, Earth Sciences Minister Kapil Sibal today said the situation would improve after Rs 900 crore high-tech weather forecating system was in place.

Stating that his ministry has put up a note to this effect to the Union Cabinet, Mr Sibal, in reply to a question by Mr Rayapati Sambasiva Rao of Congress, informed the Lok Sabha that the proposal was aimed at replacing the 60-year-old manual analog weather forecasting system with automatic digital system.

The basic system will be in place by May, 2009 and the one to provide forecast to farmers at the district level will become operational in 2013, he added.

Replying to a supplementary question by Mr Devendra Prasad Yadav, the Minister admitted that memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with Nepal in 2004 to set up systems at 16 places in Bihar for alerting people of floods on account of rise in water level of rivers flowing downstream to the state from the Himalayan country had not been operationalised so far.

The Minister said 125 automatic weather stations have been made operational for the current monsoon season. But he said weather forecasting will really improve once high performance computers, automated rain gauges, automatic weather stations, improved radiosonde system for upper level data and doppler weather radars are synchronised in the digital system envisaged by his ministry.

UNI