Ladakh which became UT in August last year, is all set to get its own Meteorological Centre (MC) now.
Indian Meteorological Department officials said that the MC at Ladakh will be formally inaugurated through virtual mode by Union Minister for Science and Technology, Harsh Vardhan, on Tuesday.
The IMD officials said that Director IMD J&K, Sonam Lotus has been given the temporary charge to head the MC at Leh till a full-fledged official is appointed.
Speaking with Greater Kashmir, Lotus said that after getting the status of the UT, as per rules it was mandatory to have a separate MC in Ladakh, which till now was monitored by the MC Srinagar.
“We are hopeful that Srinagar MC and Leh MC will stay connected and work in synergy. With the setting up of the new MC in Leh, we are also hopeful we can have accurate weather observation with dedicated staff for Ladakh region,” Lotus said.
Lotus said the MeT department till now didn’t have a strong presence in Leh which “was affecting weather observation and early warning system in the region”.
He said the new MC will help to track weather forecasts for far-flung hilly areas of Ladakh. “Areas like Nubra, Zanskar didn’t have a proper forecast observation earlier which will be possible now. With the changing weather scenario and climate change affecting mountains, it is important to have the observation centre at Leh. It will also help build scientific research,” Lotus said.
Lotus said at 3500 metres above the sea level, the MC will be the “highest meteorological centre” in the country.
“The centre will provide all kinds of weather and climate related information on a real-time basis. It is hoped that the centre will be one of the state-of-the-art high altitude MeT Centre in India and the world in coming years,” Lotus claimed.
In March this year, a proposal for setting up an MC in Ladakh was taken up and the Ministry of Environment and Earth Sciences approved the same in May.
Ladakh being a strategically and geo-politically vital location, necessary ground surveys were conducted by the IMD which has acquired land for constructing the MC building, senior IMD officials said.
“For the time-being, the MC will operate from a temporary building but we will have a new building,” the official said.
He said in addition to the existing Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) operating in Leh, the IMD shall be strengthening its network in near future.
He said IMD will strengthen and expand the network of AWS and at least 10 additional AWS need to be installed at key locations namely Kargil, Drass, Pangong Tso, Zanskar and Nubra valleys.