Lok Sabha Question No. 170 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-18
Subject: Prediction of Cyclone, Earthquake and Tsunami
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: PR. SENTHILNATHAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 170

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 18, 2018

## PREDICTION OF CYCLONE, EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI

## 170.  SHRI PR. SENTHIL NATHAN:

Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has initiated any specific project to predict well in advance the cyclones, earthquakes and tsunami occurring in the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal;
- (b)
- if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) the  steps  taken/proposed  to  be  taken  by  the  Government  to facilitate  the  search  operations to find missing persons during the cyclones; and
- (d) the total amount allocated in the last three years for the same?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES (DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

- (a)-(b) Yes Madam.  MoES/IMD has following projects to improve cyclone monitoring and forecasting:
-  Global Ensemble Forecasting System (GEFS) with a resolution of 23  km  was  adapted  from  NCEP,  NOAA,  USA.    It  has  been upgraded  to  a  resolution  of  12  km  to  provide  forecast  upto  7 days from 1 st  June, 2018.
-  The Unified Model (UM) and Unified Model Ensemble Prediction System  (UMEPS)  have  been  adapted  from  UK  Meteorological Office (UKMO), UK to provide forecast upto 7 days with 12 km resolution from 1 st  June, 2018.
-  IMD  also  runs  cyclone  specific  Hurricane  Weather  Research  & Forecast (HWRF) Model adapted from NCEP, NOAA, USA with a resolution  of  18  km,  6  km  and  2  km  for  cyclone  track  and intensity prediction. A project has been undertaken to implement  high  resolution  Ocean  Atmospheric  Coupled  HWRF Model at IMD for cyclone forecasting.
-  IMD also  makes  use  of  NWP  products  prepared  by  some  other operational  NWP  Centres  like,  ECMWF  (European  Centre  for Medium  Range  Weather  Forecasting),  GFS  (NCEP),  UKMO  (UK Met), JMA (Japan Meteorological Agency).
-  A  project  has  been  undertaken  for  up-gradation  of  Decision Support System of Tropical Cyclones Warning Services.
- (c)

(d)

Apart from the above, the Early Warning Services for Tsunamis are being provided by Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) at Indian  National  Centre  for  Ocean  Information  Sciences  (INCOIS), Hyderabad  an  autonomous  body  under  Ministry  of  Earth  Sciences. ITEWC was established after the deadly Tsunami on 26 December, 2004 and has been operational since its establishment in October 2007. The  ITEWC  is  capable  of  detecting  tsunamigenic  earthquakes occurring in the Indian Ocean as well as in the Global Oceans within 10 minutes of the occurrence of the earthquake and disseminates the advisories to the concerned authorities through email, fax, SMS, GTS and website. ITEWC is  considered  as  one  of  the  most  modern  tsunami  warning centre  in  the  world.  Considering  the  performance  of  ITEWC,  in October 2012, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO has designated ITEWC as the Tsunami Service Provider (TSP)  for  the  entire  Indian  Ocean  Region.  Since  then,  ITEWC  is providing tsunami advisories and related services to all countries on the Indian Ocean rim (25) countries. The  responsibility  of  search  and  rescue  operations  during  such natural calamities lies with the respective state governments. In  regard  to  the  amount  allocated,  this  ministry  is  not  maintaining the information centrally.

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