The Director General of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, emphasized the significant impact of climate change on weather forecasting during a recent statement. He pointed out that the ongoing changes in the climate are leading to increasingly extreme weather conditions globally.
In an interview with ANI, Mohapatra explained that the IMD is actively working to address these challenges in order to enhance their ability to detect and predict even minor fluctuations in weather patterns. He noted, “Climate change is a continuous phenomenon that complicates weather forecasts. Our accuracy in predicting heavy rainfall has improved from 60 percent to 80 percent over the last five years. We are taking various measures to counter the effects of climate change and to better identify and forecast subtle weather changes.”
Reflecting on the IMD’s efforts since launching lightning forecasts in April 2019, he shared, “Only five countries can predict lightning, and we are among them. To further our understanding of lightning, we are establishing a research test center in Balasore in collaboration with ISRO and DRDO. We have also deployed additional observation systems across Jharkhand, Odisha, and Gangetic West Bengal for this purpose.”
He reported that the overall accuracy of weather forecasts from the IMD has increased by 40 to 50 percent over the past decade. “When we first began, we operated with just 80 observation stations; now we have expanded to 550 departmental observatories and 2,000 automatic weather stations, along with Doppler radars installed in 39 locations. Another 34 radars are planned for installation by 2026. These enhancements to our observational capabilities should further increase our forecast accuracy by 10 to 15 percent in the next five years,” Mohapatra indicated.
In addition, he highlighted the IMD’s commitment to making weather forecasts more accessible to the public. “We recently initiated the ‘Har Har Mausam and Har Ghar Mausam’ campaign aimed at ensuring precise weather forecasts reach every household. Our ‘Mausam’ mobile app now provides hourly weather predictions for up to 36 hours. We are also working with the Panchayati Raj Ministry to deliver weather updates to local ward members, sarpanchs, and panchayat secretaries. Moreover, in collaboration with the Rural Development Ministry, we are ensuring that women involved in agriculture and animal husbandry receive these forecasts as well,” he added.
