Director General of IMD, Dr.Mrutyunjay Mohapatra has said that the India Meteorological Department will soon launch a dynamic, impact-based cyclone warning system, aimed at minimising economic losses and damage to property due to the cyclones that hit Indian coasts every year.He was speaking on the topic of ‘Chasing the Cyclones’, organised as part of World Space Week celebrations by the Indian Society of Remote Sensing (ISRS)’s Delhi chapter on October 06, 2020.

Dr.Mohapatra pointed out that the damage caused to infrastructure due to cyclones is increasing the world over. “With India’s growing economy, we aim to reduce the damage and economic losses caused to property and infrastructure. The dynamic, impact-based cyclone warning will be commissioned from this season”, he said.

As part of the new system, location or district-specific tailored warnings, which factor in the local population, infrastructure, settlements, land use and other elements, will be prepared and disseminated. All disaster management agencies will make extensive use of cartographic, geological and hydrological data available for the district concerned.

NDMA has taken up a project, entitled, National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project (NCRMP). Under this project, NDMA is developing a Web-based Dynamic Composite Risk Atlas (Web-DCRA) in collaboration with IMD and state Governments of coastal states.

Earlier in the day, IMD organized the on-line pre-cyclone exercise meeting under the chairmanship of Dr.Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, to review the preparedness, take stock of requirements, plan for the cyclone season October-December, 2020 and share new initiatives by IMD with stake holders. The meeting was participated by experts from IMD, National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), Indian Air Force (IAF), Indian Navy (IN), Central Water Commission (CWC), India Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Deptt. of Fisheries, Punctuality Cell, Indian Railways and Central Water Commission (CWC).

            Cyclones are multi-hazardous in nature and thus they cause heavy rain, strong winds and storm surge over the affected region simultaneously and in its wake the associated property loss can be huge. This can be in the form of damage to houses and roads, farms and agriculture lands, public infrastructure, and power and telecommunication lines, adding to the overall economic burden for the affected families, local administrations and state governments.

            With improved technology and increased use of satellite-guided data in recent years, IMD has managed to better cyclones forecast and issue timely warnings.Advance and accurate cyclone predictions, combined with efforts from disaster management agencies, have also significantly contributed in bringing down the cyclone mortality rate over the years.  The post-monsoon months of October and November offer the favourable atmosphere and sea conditions for the occurrence of cyclonic storms, which mainly affect coastal Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal in east coast and Gujarat in west coast.

Dr. Mohapatra gave a comprehensive presentation on the occasion to explain all aspects of cyclones.