Two years after installing the Rs12-cr contraption, met officials still don’t have a clue if it’ll work.
Monsoon is bearing down on the city, checking the forecast before stepping out is the logical thing to do. But the equipment that can issue a better forecast, and that too much in advance, stands useless in Colaba’s Navy Nagar this year too.
The city will not benefit from the state of the art S-band Doppler radar that the meteorological department had installed two years back. The department is still unsure if the Rs12-crore radar will be of any use for monsoon-related forecasts. After its installation atop the 16-storey Archana building in Navy Nagar, Colaba, in 2010, Met officials have encountered numerous technical glitches.
“Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) had installed the radar in Mumbai. The engineers are still working on resolving issues related to signal interference and noise the radar software is encountering. Because of the noise, accurate forecast through the radar is currently not possible,” said NY Apte, deputy director general, regional Met department, Mumbai.
With Met’s current infrastructure, weather forecasts beyond 24-48 hours are not possible. While the Met forecasts basic parameters related to temperature, wind speed, wind direction and humidity, the radar can issue detailed deluge- or cyclone-related forecasts.
“The radar’s reach goes as far as 500km. Electromagnetic beams are released from it, which, on hitting the clouds, echo back. The readings provide accurate details about the amount of rainwater accumulation in the clouds. It can gauge the height and velocity of moving clouds,” said Dr S Hosalikar, scientist, Met department.
“Currently, forecasting the amount of rainfall in any given area is not possible. But the Doppler radar can forecast this. It can also issue deluge alerts a day before.”
The only functioning Doppler radar in the state, commissioned by a Chinese company Metstar, is at Nagpur. But it is not of any help as far as deluge-related forecasts across the western coast go. “It is unable to cover the Arabian sea range. Hence, cyclone and deluge alerts on the western coast are not received through it,” said Apte.
In 2009, a Doppler radar of Chinese make was to be installed in Navy Nagar. But it didn’t materialise as clearances from the defence ministry could not be obtained.
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