Centre approves Rs 920 cr to modernise meteorologial centres

Tiruchirapalli, Aug 28 (UNI) The Centre has sanctioned Rs 920 crore to modernise weather observing and forecasting systems during the 11th five year plan, Dr R V Sharma, Deputy Director General, Regional Meteorologial Centre, Chennai, said today.

Addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the inaugural session of the two-day National Conference on Climate Changes in India here, he said under the plan, it was proposed to establish Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) in all the revenue districts in the country.

He said it was also proposed to establish atleast two automatic rain gauge centres in all the revenue districts to avoid technical errors in the manual rain gauge system.

He said all the existing radars would be replaced by the Doppler Weather Radar Systems in a phased manner and it would be erected in new places, wherever it was necessary.

To a question, he said within a couple of years, the country's weather observation and forecasting systems would be fully automatic.

Delivering his key note address at the inaugural session of the conference, he underlined the need for the enhancement of interactions among decision-makers and various research enterprises dealing with environmental issues, including climate changes and society.

He said the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has predicted in its report that the average increase in global temperature would be ranging from 1.4 Degree to 5.8 Degrees Celsius by the year 2100.

If actions were not taken, the global warming might have a large adverse impact on our environment, he added.

UNI RV DS VV SY RN1619