The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has deployed 15 new automatic weather stations (AWS) in the State, the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) has said.
The AWS—one each for 13 districts and two for Thrissur—are the first of the 85 planned in the State by year-end. They would supply crucial atmospheric data such as rainfall volume, wind speed and direction, temperature, and humidity on a real-time basis, KSDMA said on Wednesday.
The locations are as follows: Neyyatinkara (Thiruvananthapuram), Seethathode (Pathanamthitta), West Kallada (Kollam), Kanjikkuzhi (Alappuzha), Poonjar (Kottayam), Peermade (Idukki), Paravur (Ernakulam), Vellinezhi (Palakkad), Paravanna (Malappuram), Chalakkudi and Poringalkuthu (Thrissur), Kakkayam (Kozhikode), Padinjarathara (Wayanad), Irikkur (Kannur), and Vellarikund (Kasaragod).
In the aftermath of the 2018 floods, the State government had, in October 2018, urged the Union Home Ministry to establish 186 AWS in the State to improve weather prediction. The IMD had agreed to deploy 100. However, work was delayed and the State government had drawn attention to the matter in May this year. Following this, the IMD launched work on a war-footing. The KSDMA supplied the IMD with information on potential locations for establishing 27 of the 100 AWS. Initially, KSDMA had identified 73 sites.
The Director General, IMD, also informed the State government that the remaining 85 would be established by year-end.
Yellow alert for nine districts
Isolated heavy rainfall would likely hit central and north Kerala districts on Thursday, the India Meteorological Department said in a weather update. Yellow alerts was issued for Kottayam, Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, and Kasaragod.