No official, IMD observatory in Gurugram lying defunct for 4 months

GURUGRAM: Mercury has already touched 7 degrees Celsius and the city generally sees a drop to 2-3 degrees in the month of December, but the Indian Meteorological Department's part-time observatory at Sohna Road has not been functioning since September this year.
There is no observatory within the city for a precise recording of the minimum and maximum temperatures - two automatic weather stations situated at Gwalpahari and Shikohpur are functional but aren't located in the urban areas and record temperatures slightly on the lower side. The reason why the Sohna Road observatory isn't active is that the official assigned to monitor the weather and record the temperatures has been transferred to another area. As a result, manual data, which gives a more precise view of the city's weather conditions, hasn't been recorded for the past four months.
According to IMD officials, the department had set up the part-time observatory with the support of the education department at the SCERT campus on Sohna Road. All the equipment and training to officials were provided by the department.
They are in touch with state government officials and trying to depute someone to monitor the weather station, IMD said. "Since it was a part-time observatory, the observer is not an IMD employee and was transferred. The matter has been taken up with the department concerned and we are expecting a resolution soon. The automatic weather stations are functional and we are using their data for preparing forecasts," said Manmohan Singh, director, IMD (Chandigarh).
Meanwhile, experts pointed out that having authentic data is imperative for preparing the climatology of the city, which also has a socio-economic impact. "It is important to have historical weather data to prepare the climatology of a city. In a city like Gurgaon, which is a major IT hub with several startups having huge investment and tremendous potential in the future, authentic weather data becomes more relevant. Data should come from the right source and its frequency should be maintained. In the coming future, investment will only take place when there is relevant climate scope. If there is no data, how can analysis or research be done?" questioned Navdeep Dahiya, the founder of Live Weather of India, an online weather platform.