India: Monsoon delight: Rain alert on phone every 15 mins
By Snehal Fernandes and Badri Chatterjee
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The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, which is under the ministry of earth sciences (MoES), has developed an early warning system to forecast floods for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) that will help citizens avoid pockets that are flooded and municipal authorities to act swiftly in waterlogged areas. “Climate is changing. We are experiencing more extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall, urban floods and flash floods,” said M Rajeevan, MoES secretary. “While it is easy to forecast tomorrow’s rainfall, it is very difficult to forecast extreme weather events because the science itself is very different. The ministry, therefore, is investing a lot in research in order to improve forecasts for extreme weather events.”
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A network of 160 rain gauges has been set up, and four small X-band Doppler radars – two in Mumbai and one each in Thane and Navi Mumbai – with a range of up to 50-60km will be installed next year. There will be continuous radar monitoring, known as Mosaic, across MMR that will provide near real-time weather information.
Experts said a flood early warning system for Mumbai is important because the slope of the Mithi River changes very abruptly – steep from the river’s origin to the Mumbai airport, and changes to being flat – and therefore information on the drainage network is important.
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