Indian Meteorology Needs Modernization…

Dr. Manmohan Singh had said rightly in 1991 “If we want to grow we need accurate prediction of India Monsoon”

These were the lines which led to policies targeting modernization of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). Indian Meteorological department was injected with fresh investments in Super Computers, Data Analysers and many more new instruments.

Well what is the relation between the growth and IMD? This is quite surprising for a country but it’s true for India. Indian economy is predominately an agrarian economy. Around 50% of the workforce is employed directly or indirectly in Agriculture. Indian agricultural irrigation infrastructure from the very beginning has been inadequate in comparison to its demand. Still today many farmers in India wait for the Monsoon showers to irrigate their fields. This is one scenario while on the other hand undetermined monsoon rains lead to flooding of fields and affect the crops.

In both ways the output of Indian farmers in India is dependent on the Monsoons hence affecting the overall growth of the country. Hence Dr. Manmohan Singh rightly caught up the nerve of India’s growth and commented on the inability of the IMD to predict monsoon correctly. If monsoon is predicted correctly on time then we can take steps to mitigate and prevent losses from the event.

There are other losses also if there is a very strong monsoon which brings flood with itself. Recently the Jammu and Kashmir floods have led to large loss of life and properties, then the huge losses of mankind from the flash floods of Uttarakhand, All these could have been avoided if our IMD could predict them.

Well now you would believe that India really needs a revamp of the IMD which can be a crucial step in the development of the country. It will help the country farmers and will create a good warning system which can protect our people if not the land.