BENGALURU: Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director General of Meteorology, India Meteorological Department (IMD), on Saturday said that Karnataka will soon have three Doppler Weather Radars (DWRs) in Bengaluru, Mangaluru and Dharwad.
“Chennai, Kochi and Goa have DWRs. They will provide accurate weather information for Karnataka. Timely weather alerts can be issued with their help,” he told TNSE.
He was speaking on the sidelines of IMD celebrating 150 years of its functioning in the city.
Bhoyar Harshal Narayanrai, Commissioner, Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority, said, two more radars will be installed in Karwar and Ballari. All five radars will help in issuing timely alerts not just for government agencies, but also for people.
On the initiatives taken up by IMD, Mohapatra said Karnataka is prone to flooding. Even its urban areas face this problem. Bengaluru is one of the cities that frequently experiences flooding. To address this, IMD, in association with IISc, KSNDMC and other agencies, will start issuing special region, ward-wise weather reports in two years.
He said the department is now working towards providing air quality information and wind profile and wind distribution-related information. Alerts will be given on wind distribution in different layers of atmosphere which will help in understanding cloud formation and formation of systems. They will also help the aviation sector.
KJ Ramesh Kumar, former director general of IMD, said the department is also working towards disseminating sector-wise weather information, especially to the energy sector for generation and supply of power. Earlier, aviation was the biggest sector seeking information. But now profiles and consumers have changed. The department is being consulted for information during vector, air and water-borne diseases and for waste management programmes.