THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state’s first Cyclone Warning Centre (CWC) and the country’s fourth will be formally inaugurated here on Tuesday. M Rajeevan, secretary with Ministry of Earth Sciences, will inaugurate the centre at the IMD Meteorological Centre on Observatory Hills at 3.30 pm.
The CWC, which started functioning on October 1, will monitor the weather and issue special bulletins to disaster managers during cyclonic storms and depressions affecting the coastal states. The centre will cover the Arabian Sea, with specific reference to the Kerala and Karnataka coasts and the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, K Santhosh, director of Meteorological Centre, said.
"It would issue warnings to central and state government officers and the ports and fishermen. Further, it would issue coastal weather bulletins for ships present in the coastal waters and alert the general public with weather broadcast bulletins,’’ he said. Recent cyclonic events, including Ockhi and Luban and similar extreme weather conditions that affected the Kerala and Karnataka coasts had prompted the Ministry of Earth Sciences to open the unit in Thiruvananthapuram.
With the inauguration of the CWC in Thiruvananthapuram, the total number of CWCs in the country goes up to four - two on the western seaboard (Ahmedabad and Thiruvananthapuram) and two in the east (Visakhapatanam and Bhubaneswar). The CWC in Thiruvananthapuram functions under the Area Cyclone Warning Centre in Chennai under the guidance of the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre (RSMC), New Delhi. IMD director general K J Ramesh will be present at Tuesday’s function.