BENGALURU: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a weather advisory on the outbreak of malaria and dengue in parts of Karnataka, Goa, Telangana, Kerala, Bihar, Gujarat and other north Indian states from March 6-19 based on weather and health department data. But, the weatherman is unable to issue advisories on cholera or other vector or non-vector borne diseases, because of paucity of information given from state health departments. The IMD is also unable to issue an advisory on COVID-19, as it is a relatively new disease.
The Climate Information for Health, under the IMD-Pune, issues state-wise advisories based on temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind and pressure of regions. “At present, we are issuing advisories only for malaria and dengue based on the little information we get from all states. But now, with the number of cases of other diseases rising, we are unable to do much. We have weather data of over 100 years, but to give out advisories, we need at least 10-15 years of health departments’ data also to analyse before issuing any bulletin,” said Dr Pulak Guhathakurta, Head, Climate Application and User Interface, Office of Climate Research and Services, IMD. The exercise of issuing advisories started two years ago, when the number of cases of vector borne diseases was on the rise. At the recent Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme held in Delhi, the central government had stressed on data sharing.
He said only Bihar and Kerala are sharing data appropriately, but other states don’t. In case of Karnataka, data of only 2017 and 2018 was shared pertaining to chikungunya, malaria and dengue. “We need specific information like the list of diseases, number of deaths and cases reported. Region wise data is ideal to have a clear picture before issuing an advisory, as regional variations are there. But in Karnataka, the officials reasoned that it is a policy matter that data and information cannot be disseminated,” he said.
He explained that even as malaria and dengue data is being updated, inclusion of new diseases is becoming difficult with the data in hand as information on new coronavirus cannot be given because it is a new.
Warmer days forecast
The IMD has forecast a rise in temperatures in the coming days. IMD-Bengaluru director in-charge Geeta Agnihotri said temperatures will rise as it is the onset of summer. The IMD head office had also issued a statement stating the seasonal average maximum and minimum temperatures would be up by 0.5-1 degrees Celsius. She added that last year was an El Nino year and it has been observed that the subsequent year is warmer. So far no all time record high temperatures have been reported in the state. The mercury level is yet to rise, she added. The IMD has also issued a rainfall forecast for the next two days because of the large weather systems forming.