Post-tragedy, Kharghar to get IMD weather station

MUMBAI: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has decided to set up an automatic weather station (AWS) in Kharghar, a week after 14 people succumbed to heatstroke, dehydration and other health problems after attending a government-sponsored event in an open ground in the blazing afternoon.
At present, the IMD has observatories in Colaba and Santacruz.
The weather bureau had been criticised for not issuing a heatwave warning for Kharghar on April 16, when lakhs thronged the Kharghar International Corporate Park grounds for the Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony of social activist Dattatreya Narayan alias Appasaheb Dharmadhikari.
For Kharghar, the nearest IMD observatory is at Alibaug and at Thane-Belapur Industrial Association (TBIA) in Rabale which was set up in 2017. Sunil Kamble, scientist and chief at IMD Mumbai, said they hope to set up the AWS at Kharghar before monsoon.
'Need weather stns at Thane, Dombivli too'
: IMD has decided to set up an automatic weather station at Kharghar following the April 16 heatwave tragedy. “We were considering placing AWS in areas that are unrepresented, but after the incident, we decided to immediately set up one at Kharghar,” said Sunil Kamble, chief of IMD Mumbai.
“Before placing the AWS we need to check if the site has good exposure conditions, plain and clear ground below and no tall buildings around it to block wind speed. This AWS will record day and night temperatures and also rainfall.”
Abhijit Modak, who runs Konkan Weather blog, welcomed the move, but said IMD needs to consider areas like Kalyan-Dombivli and Thane too. “The readings from these AWS...should reflect on IMD website daily to help in data collection...There is generally a significant difference in the recordings in Mumbai city and in the suburbs, therefore more weather stations are needed,” he said.