IMD Celebrates 150th Year of Establishment and Service to Nation

The Vice President of India appreciated IMD for its valuable services to the nation and congratulated them on reaching this important milestone. He highlighted that the policies, plans, and programs of IMD are aligned with the mainstream programs of India and the vision & mission of the Prime Minister and his team. He praised IMD for its role in increasing farmers’ income through accurate weather forecasts and crop weather advisories.

He mentioned that a BPL family farmer with a landholding of less than 2 acres in a rainfed area can gain Rs 12,500 per year by using weather information, contributing to a gain of 13,300 crores towards GDP per year.

He also acknowledged IMD’s contribution to safe aviation through aviation weather monitoring and forecasting for all 117 airports in support of Gati Shakti and Udaan Scheme. He appreciated the indigenous development of various instruments and software to improve weather and climate services, including the decision support system and the mobile app launched on this occasion.

The Vice President also praised IMD for its early warning services during Super Cyclone Amphan in 2020 and cyclone MOCHA in 2023, which earned appreciation from WMO, United Nations, and UNHCR. He highlighted the role of IMD in the economic development of the country through its services to each sector of society. The release of Mausam Gram today is in line with the government’s program of “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas.”

The Vice President emphasized that IMD plays a pivotal role in providing early warnings to more than 90% of the population in the country. He highlighted the services of IMD to the Power & Renewable Energy Sector to minimize losses and improve the economy.

The National Framework of Climate Services launched today aims to maximize the utilization of climate information, with a special emphasis on disaster risk reduction, water, health, energy, and agriculture management. He urged all stakeholders to utilize climate and weather information in their activities to ensure a “Weather Ready and Climate Smart India.”

He concluded his address by stating that IMD must be prepared to adopt new technologies to enable India to emerge as a global leader for meteorological services. He mentioned that IMD supports India’s ethics of Vasudhav Kutumbakam by providing weather forecast services to various countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and many more.

Kiren Rijiju congratulated IMD on this momentous occasion and applauded the proactive measures taken by IMD to improve the weather observational network in the country. He mentioned the increase in the number of Doppler radars, rainfall monitoring stations, upper air stations, and high wind speed recorders. He informed that the total number of radars in the country will increase to 86 in the next 5 years. He expressed his gratitude to the Prime Minister for the PRITHVI scheme, which will enable the Ministry to take up new initiatives for further improving the services. He wished IMD continued progress and innovation to meet the requirements of people worldwide.

Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director General of Meteorology, IMD, discussed the evolution of meteorological services in the country since ancient times. He highlighted the various services provided by IMD over the years, including climate service, aviation meteorological service, agrometeorological service, storm surge warning, and many more. He emphasized IMD’s readiness to reach out to every household with weather information using state-of-the-art technology and collaboration with academia, R&D institutes, public-private partnerships, and stakeholders.

The Vice President released the theme song of IMD, which highlights the evolution and services provided by IMD for the country and the international community in the principle of “Commitment to work for the Welfare of All.”

On the occasion of IMD’s 150th year celebrations, the Vice President released and launched the following:

1. Souvenir on the Evolution of IMD and its services since 1875: The souvenir highlights the development and accomplishments of IMD in terms of its organizational structure, observations, communication, modeling, and services since 1875.

2. Indigenously developed Decision Support System (DSS): The India Meteorological Department has created an in-house Web-GIS-based integrated DSS called the Weather Analysis and Forecast Enabling System (WAFES). Inspired by the elements of Water, Air, Fire, Earth, and Sky, WAFES serves as a visualization platform for analyzing meteorological observations and prediction models. It aids decision-making for severe weather events and their socio-economic impact. The DSS includes modules such as the Meteorological Information Communication System (MICS), Data Information Processing System (DIPS), Synthesized Integrated Visualization System (SIVS), and Public Weather Information System (PWIS). It provides real-time information for various sectors such as Urban, Power, Hydrology, Health, Energy, Agriculture, Transport, and Tourism.

3. Panchayat Mausam Seva for farmers: The India Meteorological Department, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, and Green Alert Mausam Sewa have jointly developed the Panchayat Mausam Sewa Portal. This portal provides weather forecasts in English, Hindi, and twelve regional languages to every panchayat head and panchayat secretary in the country. The aim is to reach every village and provide farmers with weather alerts, warnings, and medium-range forecasts. This information helps farmers plan their agricultural activities and reduce input costs and crop losses due to abnormal weather conditions.

4. IMD’s Mobile App and Mausamgram: IMD has launched an integrated GIS-based interactive mobile app called MAUSAM. This app provides various weather-related services such as current weather, hourly to 7-day forecasts, rainfall, humidity, sunrise/sunset times, moonrise/moonset times, rain alerts, lightning alerts, cyclone alerts, aviation advisories, and agro-meteorological advisories. The app supports 12 Indian languages. Additionally, IMD introduces mausamgram, available through the Mausam mobile app, which allows the public to view observations, forecasts, and warnings for their location. The forecasts are available on an hourly, 3-hourly, and 6-hourly basis for up to the next 10 days. The mausamgram can also be accessed through the IMD website.

5. National Framework of Climate Services (NFCS): Recognizing the influence of weather and climate on our lives and livelihoods, IMD has introduced the NFCS. This framework includes the preparation of climatology data for meteorological parameters and climate extremes, digitization of observational data since 1901, visualization tools for the public to observe climate parameters and hazards, and climate forecasts based on a multi-model ensemble system. The NFCS aims to enhance climate services in areas such as agriculture, hydrology, disaster risk reduction, health, and energy. The implementation of NFCS will enable individuals and organizations to become climate smart and contribute to the country’s economy.

Overall, these initiatives and developments by IMD aim to improve the accessibility and usability of weather and climate information for various sectors and stakeholders in India.