Lok Sabha Question No. 3899 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-08-09
Subject: Upgradation of IMD
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: MALLIKARJUN  KHARGE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 3899

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 09, 2017

## UPGRADATION OF IMD

## 3899. SHRI MALLIKARJUN KHARGE:

Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) Whether  in  spite  of  rapidly  growing  indigenous  technology,  Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) is lagging behind;
- (b) if  so,  whether  the  Government  is  in  the  process  of  upgrading infrastructure  and  technology  of  IMD  to  improve  forecast  with accuracy and speed;
- (c) the  total  financial  allocation  made  by  the  Government  for  this purpose; and
- (d) whether  the  Government  also  proposes  to  establish  more  IMD stations in Karnataka, looking at frequent history of drought and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES

(SHRI Y. S. CHOWDARY)

- (a) No Madam. There is no reason to carry such impression about the performance  of  the  India  Meteorological  Department  (IMD)  that operates dedicated weather and climate monitoring, detection and warning services useful for various sectors of economy. The weather forecasting systems in the country are comparable to most of the developed countries in the world. Efforts are continuously made to enhance  the  level  of  efficiency  of  the  forecasting  systems  and  to improve skill of weather forecast. During the past few years, IMD has been continuously improving weather prediction services in terms of accuracy,  lead  time  and  associated  impact.  The  accuracy  of  the weather  forecast is more  than 80%  qualitatively  and  65-70% quantitatively for various regions in the country. The forecasts and warnings are issued by IMD at the national, State and district levels. It has a network of State Meteorological Centres for better coordination with State and district level agencies.

For  the  improvement  in  the  prediction  of  monsoon  rainfall,  the National Monsoon Mission was launched in 2012. Under the monsoon mission, two dynamical prediction systems have been implemented for monsoon forecasts.

Noticeable improvements have been achieved in prediction skills of heavy rainfall and tropical cyclones. This is evident with reference to recent tropical cyclones, Phailin, Hudhud and Vardah and the heavy rainfall events in Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and recently in Chennai. For the recent cyclone, Vardah, which had caused severe damages  in  the  city  of  Chennai  and  neighbourhood,  accurate predictions were provided almost 3 days in advance, helping to save thousands of lives. The loss of lives during the last 3 years due to tropical cyclones has reduced to less than hundred as compared to the thousands during the previous decade. For example, the famous 1999 Super Cyclone in Orissa killed more than 10,000 people while the same intense Phailin claimed only less than 50 people in Orissa. This large reduction in casualties is attributed to substantial improvement in monitoring and prediction of tropical cyclones.

- (b) Does not arise.

(c) Year wise allocation of funds in IMD during 12th Five Year Plan are indicated below:

| Financial Year   |   Funds allocated (Rs. In Crores) |
|------------------|-----------------------------------|
| 2012-13          |                            206    |
| 2013-14          |                            200    |
| 2014-15          |                            190    |
| 2015-16          |                            174.18 |
| 2016-17          |                            241.6  |
| 2017-18          |                            188.75 |

(d) No Madam. However, augmentation of the observing system networks for the upgradation of IMD is a continuing process that shall be taken up as per the emerging needs from time to time.

- *****