BENGALURU: Sixteen years after it was first proposed, Karnataka’s hope to have its own Doppler Weather Radar that could predict weather conditions accurately continues. It is the only state in South India that does not possess this crucial forecasting system. An India Meteorological Department official said the process of procuring and housing two such radars was on and it could materialise by early 2024.
Farmers as well as tourists will be among those who benefit enormously when it is in place, says private weather forecaster Adarsh Gowda, who has repeatedly stressed on the urgency for it. He has even reached out to the Prime Minister through his social media posts. “At present, Karnataka’s weather predictions are all made using radars from the neighbouring states. Due to the distance factor, the radar images have a 500-km resolution and hence the prediction is simply not accurate. Ideally, the radar needs to be within a 150-km distance,” Gowda told TNIE.
To assess weather conditions in Bengaluru, Kolar, Ramanagara, and Chikkaballapur, Karnataka uses Chennai’s Doppler radar, for North Karnataka, the one in Goa is used, while for Interior Karnataka and Malnad, Kerala’s radar is used, Gowda points out.
“This facility is critical in a large state like ours. Coastal areas receive very heavy rain during monsoon and Malnad is one of the wettest regions. We also need one to predict uncertain weather in Bengaluru. A much smaller state like Kerala has two, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu have three each, while Telangana has one,” he added.
Sharing the history of the lack of progress, the forecaster said it was first proposed that the site for the radar would be in Devanahalli, in 2007. “The location was then shifted to Yelahanka GKVK Campus in 2017 and then to Hessaraghatta in 2019. It has been 16 years since it was first proposed and we are still at the starting point,” he lamented.
Meanwhile, a senior IMD official said, “The procurement order for two radars (one for Bengaluru and another for Mangaluru) has already been placed by the Upper Air Instrumentation Division of our head office in Delhi. We have been asked to identify sites for them.”
“We have assessed five sites and have narrowed down on one and it is confidential for now. It was tough to find the ideal site in Bengaluru due to the high-rise buildings here. The sites should not have any obstructions all around (360 degrees) so that the scanner can function perfectly,” he added.