Delhi to get 50 automatic weather stations to improve real-time data collection: Jitendra Singh

New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) The India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Ministry of Earth Sciences are working on installing 50 automatic weather stations across Delhi to strengthen city-level weather monitoring and improve real-time data collection, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Thursday.

Addressing the IMD's 151st foundation day celebrations here, Singh, the Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, said the Singh the ministry was exploring a separate rainfall monitoring programme involving farmers, panchayats and the agricultural sector to further improve ground-level observations.

Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) are observation devices that automatically collect, store and transmit weather information.

The IMD and the ministry are planning to install 50 automatic weather stations across Delhi this year as part of a larger plan to set up around 200 such stations in major cities, including Chennai and Mumbai, with the first phase expected to start here in the national capital, Singh said.

The initiative would significantly strengthen city-level weather monitoring and improve real-time data collection, he added.

On the occasion, IMD launched a digital platform -- KRIPA (Krishi Advisory based on Location-specific weather Prediction) -- designed to deliver impact-based agrometeorological advisories tailored to a farmer's location, crop type and growth stage.

KRIPA automatically detects the farmer’s location or allows manual selection of the village or panchayat. It provides a five-day forecast of key weather parameters, which are dynamically compared with crop- and state-specific thresholds.

Based on this assessment, the system generates advisories on crop management, pests and diseases, indicating likely weather impacts and recommended actions. The advisories can be viewed, downloaded and shared in both Hindi and English through the Mausam portal.

IMD also launched SANKALP (Systematic Agrometeorological Analytics, Knowledge and Advisory Enabling Platform), a unified, web-based system aimed at strengthening agrometeorological services by integrating real-time observations, climatology and seamless forecast information at block-level granularity.

Officials said SANKALP would transform weather and climate data into farmer-centric, actionable advisories, helping reduce weather-induced losses, optimise agricultural practices and enhance farm productivity in the face of increasing climate variability and extreme weather events.

IMD Director General Mrutyunjaya Mohapatra said forecasting accuracy for severe weather events had improved by 40 per cent in recent decades due to advances in observation systems, modelling and early warning dissemination.

He said IMD’s services now extended beyond India, supporting neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, and described the department’s growing capability as a sign of becoming self-reliant.

“We are not only supporting India but also helping our neighbouring countries. We are truly atmanirbhar,” Mohapatra said.

Ministry of Earth Sciences Secretary, M Ravichandran, said the focus for the next five-year cycle would be on strengthening observations over the atmosphere, oceans and coastal regions, along with improving tropical weather forecasting, which he said remained a complex challenge.

He stressed the need for better understanding of weather processes, improved data assimilation and more advanced models, adding that the ministry was considering the launch of Mission Mausam 2.0 in April.

Ravichandran said communication of weather information in simple language was equally important so that forecasts and warnings could be easily understood by the general public.

He stressed that IMD was moving beyond conventional forecasting towards better weather management in line with the vision of a developed India.

Three publications were also released during the event -- a Report on Cyclonic Disturbances over the North Indian Ocean during 2025, Voices from the Fields, and a book documenting IMD's 150 years of journey. PTI SGV RHL