New Delhi: The highest meteorological centre in India, set up at a height of 3500 metres in Leh was inaugurated today by Union Minister of Earth Sciences, Science & Technology and Health and Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan, via video conferencing today.
To help the administration and the people of Ladakh, the India Meteorological Department will provide a range of weather forecast services, ranging from short (3 days) and medium (12 days) to extended (1 month) period to all the stake holders on a daily basis for both the districts (Leh and Kargil). Apart from district level forecast, it will also provide forecast for important tourist places like Nubra, Changthang, Pangong Lake, Zanskar, Kargil, Drass, Dha-Baima(Aryan valley), and Khalsi among others.
Some of the important services to be made available are highway forecast, forecast for mountaineering, trekking, agriculture, flash flood warning, low and high temperatures among others.
“The Centre will be a world class facility for high altitude meteorology and will cater to the various kinds of weather and climate needs of the people and the administration of Ladakh”, Dr Harsh Vardhan said.
He pointed out that the Ladakh region had lofty mountains with high slopes and no vegetation and lot of loose soil and debris making the region vulnerable to various kinds of natural hazards like cloud burst (of 2010), flash floods, avalanches and glacial lake outbursts. “To avert losses due to such weather events in future, the Government felt the need to establish a State of the Art Meteorological (Met) Centre at Leh in 2020 to strengthen weather related Early Warning System in Ladakh,” the Minister said.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan assured that the Government will make every effort to provide the best possible weather services to the administration and the people of Ladakh and make Ladakh safe and secure from the vagaries of weather.“The Met Center will be a world class facility for high altitude meteorology and will cater to the various kinds of weather and climate needs of the people and the administration of Ladakh”, Dr Harsh Vardhan said.
Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Radha Krishna Mathur, emphasised upon the need for micro-climatic forecasting keeping in view the climatic variety of the Ladakh region. He highlighted the importance of localised weather information and the need to create a Weather App for all stakeholders.
Those present at the virtual event today included Mathur, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, MP of Ladakh besides Dr. M. Rajeevan, Secretary, MoES, Dr.Vipin Chandra, Joint Secretary MoES, Dr. M. Mohapatra, Director General IMD, and Gopal Iyenger, Scientist- F, MoES.
– global bihari bureau
