Jammu, June 5: Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Thursday inaugurated the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Jammu, announcing that the facility will provide district-level weather forecasts and strengthen early warning systems for Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh.
The Jammu centre becomes India’s seventh Regional Meteorological Centre and is expected to enhance weather monitoring, forecasting and disaster preparedness across the Himalayan region.
Speaking at the inauguration, Singh said the centre would deliver specialised services including district-wise forecasts, mountain weather forecasts, tourist advisories, city-specific weather updates and warnings related to flash floods, cloudbursts, avalanches, heavy snowfall, thunderstorms and landslides.
He said the services would particularly benefit pilgrims undertaking the annual Amarnath and Vaishno Devi yatras, besides farmers, transport operators, hydropower projects, disaster management agencies and security forces operating in difficult terrain.
“Now there will be regional forecasts, district-wise forecasts, separate forecasts for tourists and separate mountain forecasts,” the minister said, adding that customised forecasting would help address the unique weather challenges of the Himalayan region.
Singh highlighted the expansion of meteorological infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh over the past decade. He noted that while the region had no Doppler Weather Radar in 2014, four such radars are now operational at Jammu, Srinagar, Leh and Banihal Top. Under Mission Mausam, five additional Doppler Weather Radars have been proposed for Anantnag, Rajouri, Baramulla, Kishtwar and Doda.
The minister said the observational network has also expanded significantly, with the region now having 56 observatories, including 25 Automatic Weather Stations (AWSs), 16 Automatic Rain Gauges (ARGs) and 15 manual observatories. In comparison, only 13 AWSs and 14 ARGs existed in 2014.
Recently, new Automatic Weather Stations have been installed at Kargil, Ukhral in Ramban district and Mata Vaishno Devi Bhawan. During the current financial year, nearly eight additional AWSs and five ARGs are expected to be commissioned.
Singh said the number of stations under the Daily Rainfall Monitoring Scheme has increased from 30 in 2014 to 85 at present, strengthening rainfall monitoring and forecasting capabilities across the region.
The minister described the establishment of the Jammu centre as a major restructuring of the India Meteorological Department’s regional operations. Until now, weather services for Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan were coordinated by the Regional Meteorological Centre in Delhi.
With the new arrangement, weather services for Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh will be managed from Jammu, while a proposed Regional Meteorological Centre in Lucknow will oversee Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Singh also highlighted collaborations between the Meteorological Centre Srinagar and institutions including Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Jammu, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Kashmir and Islamic University of Science and Technology for research and capacity-building in weather and climate sciences.
He referred to the High-Altitude Cloud Physics Laboratory at Patnitop, established in collaboration with Swiss institutions, for advanced studies on clouds and aerosols in the Himalayan region.
On earthquake monitoring, the minister said Jammu and Kashmir’s seismological network has been modernised, with existing stations upgraded to digital systems and an additional observatory established in Udhampur. A new seismological observatory has also been proposed for Kishtwar.
Currently, five seismic stations are operational across Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, transmitting near real-time data to the National Centre for Seismology.
Singh announced that an Automatic Weather Station and a seismology centre would be established in Kishtwar in the aftermath of last year’s disaster in the district.
He also noted that the Srinagar Meteorological Observatory, which has been functioning for more than a century, has been recognised by the World Meteorological Organization as a Centennial Observing Station.
Emphasising the role of weather services in disaster management, the minister said timely forecasts and warnings would help reduce risks from flash floods, cloudbursts, avalanches, heavy snowfall, thunderstorms and landslides in the region.
