BHUBANESWAR: The government is in the process of installing around 500 automated weather stations and 6,000 automated rain gauges (ARGs) across Odisha to strengthen the early-warning system and impact-based forecast to tackle disasters more effectively, said Revenue and Disaster Management (R&DM) minister Suresh Pujari on Tuesday.
The technological advancement in weather prediction and rain forecast will help the government in dealing with cyclone-induced flooding and urban flooding more effectively.
Pujari said while addressing an event on ‘Early Warning to Early Action: A multi-hazard, multi-stakeholder approach learning from ecosystem’ here organised by the Reliance Foundation in collaboration with United Nations (UN) India.
The minister said the state government is already in the process of implementing Odisha State Capability Resilient Growth Programme (OSCRGP) which focuses on strengthening the multi-hazard impact-based forecasting along with the early warning dissemination system through Satark application.
Modernisation of the GIS cell at Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) as well as the state and district emergency operation centres is also in the pipeline, he said.
Pujari said Odisha is home to more than 60 indigenous tribal groups who lead a sustainable life. “It is now time to use these indigenous knowledge systems for the forecasting of extreme events and adopt them as a lifestyle,” he said.
Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre director Manorama Mohanty said IMD is also planning to provide impact-based forecast at traffic level to make weather forecasting more location-specific.
“The localised impact-based forecast at present is generic. Making it area-specific will help in a number of things including better traffic management and road diversion during heavy rains,” Mohanty said.
She, however, said the project might take some time as it needs integration of data from different departments and stakeholders to make the forecast accurate.
Reliance Foundation CEO Jagannatha Kumar said, “As climate change drives more extreme weather events, there is a need to strengthen impact-based forecasting to ensure it translates more effectively to local action.”
UN resident coordinator for India Shombi Sharp on the occasion said the United Nations, through its various agencies, will continue to work and support the efforts to strengthen early warning system in Odisha and other parts of the country.