Post news network
Paradip: The state Saturday got its first Doppler radar, which will help forecast cyclonic storms, excessive rainfall, thunderstorms and hailstorms with considerable accuracy. This is a boon for the state, which has been prone to natural calamities.
“The state will soon get two more Doppler radars at Gopalpur and Sambalpur,” said PK Mishra, the additional principal secretary to the Prime Minister, while inaugurating the facility here.
Mishra said the proposal to set up the facility at Paradip was made in 2000, after a super-cyclone ravaged the state in 1999.
The Centre has spent Rs 30 crore for setting up the Doppler radar centre here, said IMD director general LS Rathore. Another Rs 20 crore is required for setting up a similar facility at Gopalpur, he said.
“Orissa will not have to depend on Visakhapatanam or any other place for getting information on weather any more,” Rathore said.
The Doppler radar, which can monitor the situation within a radius of 500 km from Paradip, will also help strengthen coastal security, he said.
“The radar has long been awaited and will definitely be a boon for Orissa keeping in view the wrath of cyclonic storms being borne by the state. The radar will help extensively in weather prediction in a real-time manner,” said Sarat Sahu, MeT office director in Bhubaneswar.
The Doppler radar is fitted with highly sensitive instruments and will lead to prior information about low-pressure areas, cyclonic storms, depression, weather disturbances, rain forecast, location, direction and movement and intensity of the cyclonic circulation, the time of its landfall and wind speed. Earlier, IMD stations in the state used to depend on traditional equipment.
“The Doppler radar will identify the location of severe lightning about four hours before it strikes. About 400 poor people are killed every year by lightning,” said special relief commissioner PK Mohapatra.
