20 March,2022 08:51 AM IST | Chennai | Agencies
A woman carrying her infant wades along a waterlogged residential area after heavy rainfall in Chennai on December 31, 2021. Pic/Getty
Tamil Nadu is all set to develop an independent weather forecasting system specific to the state to bridge the gap in the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) forecasting. State Finance Minister, PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan in the state budget on Friday allocated an amount of R10 crore for developing the independent weather forecasting system.
According to the Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority (TNSDMA), as of Friday out of the four Doppler weather radars in Chennai region, only one at Karaikkal is working without any glitches. The S-band radar at Chennai port is defunct for want of important spare parts that need to be imported. Other than this, the radar at the National Ocean Technology (NIOT) is not fully calibrated. The Sriharikota radar has not been updated also, sources said.
TNSDMA officials said that they haven't got any alert on the possibility of extreme weather conditions during the record rainfall that was received in Chennai between November 6 and 7 in 2021. The state capital received a record rainfall of 21 cm in 24 hours in just two days. A senior officer with TNSDMA told IANS that a state-specific and sophisticated integrated weather forecasting system will be developed using supercomputers, radars, automatic weather stations, and automatic rain gauges. Stating that it will only complement what IMD was doing, he added that the changing weather patterns have made it necessary to have high-end weather forecasting technology in the state.
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