Mumbaikars to get monsoon updates on mobile phones

PUNE: After Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) last year had declared that the Mumbai residents will get monsoon updates on their cellphones, now, Mumbai residents will get locational specific climate inputs with Indian Meteorological Department, Mumbai installing 200 automatic rain gauge stations (ARGs) across the island. Besides that, two radars will also monitor the Mumbai sky. 

“IMD, Mumbai has got locations with the help of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to install these ARGs. We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Western Railway and will be installing the ARGs from Bhyandar to Churchgate,” said Mumbai IMD Chief Krishnanand Hosalikar. 

He said, “The ARGs will help in knowing the real situation of water on the tracks. This being the first of its kind project in India, IITM has designed it and is also working on installing the radars over the Mumbai sky. Currently, the city has 70 to 80 ARGs. We are also in talks with various institutes, colleges and other institutions to install ARGs and they will get free access to the data which will be generated through it,” he said. 

“We cannot stop the vertical growth of the city. Thus, we need to have two radars which will cover the city from all sides. We are installing four X-band doppler radars which will cover Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai while the tender processing is on for C-band radars,” he added.

“C-band radars are needed to monitor and observe the sea as through it we can get data for severe weather updates, disturbances and other weather phenomenon. The city has witnessed severe weather phenomenon in the recent past. To better prepare for these weather extremes, we need a system in place which will not only alert the district administration but also the citizens who can plan accordingly,” said Hosalikar. 

MoES Secretary M Rajeevan had announced last year that with the help of Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, a mega network of 200 ARGs will be set up in Mumbai.