Weather Stations: Delay in Govt Nod: Why Plan to Set Up Weather Stations Yet to Take Off in Gurgaon | Gurgaon News
Gurgaon: Work to set up five weather stations in the city was supposed to be completed by October last year, but it’s yet to begin — mostly due to delays in getting permission from state agencies, GMDA officials said on Sunday.
The GMDA has received approvals for three sites, but permissions for two others remain. “All permits are likely to be received by the end of this month, and the stations should become operational by March,” an official said.The stations will be set up at Sultanpur Lake, Udyog Vihar industrial area, Old Age Home in Sector 6, Government Senior Secondary School at Badshapur and Government Polytechnic College in Manesar. The estimated cost is Rs 8.7 crore.
At present, the city does not have full-fledged weather stations. The India Meteorological Department currently relies on two automatatic stations (AWS) in Shikohpur and Gwalpahari, but both of these are prone to technical glitches and give data that may not be representative for the entire city.
Data is specifically needed in times like these , when the region reels under cold-day conditions, or in any other cases of extreme weather. Last five days, IMD’s AWS have not been functioning in Gurgaon because of a technical issue, leaving the Met department to rely on its closest observatory in Ayanagar, Delhi.
There’s also a part-time manual weather observatory on Sohna Road, but it hasn’t been functioning since 2022.
“There has been some delay with site permissions since these weather monitoring stations will be set up at various institutions falling under various departments. Had it been our site, we won’t have any problem, but we are dependent on other departments, so, we have to go through entire channels. We have permission for three sites but we are waiting for consent from the tourism department and HSIIDC for installing weather stations,” the GMDA official said.
Conceptualised in 2021, GMDA initially proposed 24 AWS across the city. The plan later changed to five high-density AWS along with automatic rain gauge and air quality monitoring stations. GMDA signed an agreement with IMD in December 2022 and the contract for AWS for awarded to an agency in August 2023. The data collected from these stations is to be shared with IMD’s national weather system.
Asked why AWS have not been set up at sites for which permission was granted, the GMDA official said is “not feasible to install one equipment and wait for permission for others as these stations will be integrated with a larger network. Also, operation and maintenance, which is part of scope of work, need to be streamlined”. On Sunday, experts underscored the need for granular weather data in cities.
“It is important to have vast network of weather observatories to have authentic data, especially when extreme weather conditions are occurring more frequently than before. It also helps get a sense of climatology of the city to use it for influencing policy when it comes to urban planning,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice-president of Skymet India, a private weather forecasting agency.
The GMDA has received approvals for three sites, but permissions for two others remain. “All permits are likely to be received by the end of this month, and the stations should become operational by March,” an official said.The stations will be set up at Sultanpur Lake, Udyog Vihar industrial area, Old Age Home in Sector 6, Government Senior Secondary School at Badshapur and Government Polytechnic College in Manesar. The estimated cost is Rs 8.7 crore.
At present, the city does not have full-fledged weather stations. The India Meteorological Department currently relies on two automatatic stations (AWS) in Shikohpur and Gwalpahari, but both of these are prone to technical glitches and give data that may not be representative for the entire city.
Data is specifically needed in times like these , when the region reels under cold-day conditions, or in any other cases of extreme weather. Last five days, IMD’s AWS have not been functioning in Gurgaon because of a technical issue, leaving the Met department to rely on its closest observatory in Ayanagar, Delhi.
There’s also a part-time manual weather observatory on Sohna Road, but it hasn’t been functioning since 2022.
“There has been some delay with site permissions since these weather monitoring stations will be set up at various institutions falling under various departments. Had it been our site, we won’t have any problem, but we are dependent on other departments, so, we have to go through entire channels. We have permission for three sites but we are waiting for consent from the tourism department and HSIIDC for installing weather stations,” the GMDA official said.
Conceptualised in 2021, GMDA initially proposed 24 AWS across the city. The plan later changed to five high-density AWS along with automatic rain gauge and air quality monitoring stations. GMDA signed an agreement with IMD in December 2022 and the contract for AWS for awarded to an agency in August 2023. The data collected from these stations is to be shared with IMD’s national weather system.
Asked why AWS have not been set up at sites for which permission was granted, the GMDA official said is “not feasible to install one equipment and wait for permission for others as these stations will be integrated with a larger network. Also, operation and maintenance, which is part of scope of work, need to be streamlined”. On Sunday, experts underscored the need for granular weather data in cities.
“It is important to have vast network of weather observatories to have authentic data, especially when extreme weather conditions are occurring more frequently than before. It also helps get a sense of climatology of the city to use it for influencing policy when it comes to urban planning,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice-president of Skymet India, a private weather forecasting agency.