1-Dec-2021: Cyclone Warning Centres

All the 9 coastal states (viz., Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal) and the Union Territories along the coasts (viz., Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman, Diu, Mahe, Yanam, Puducherry) and the Island Territories (Lakshadweep & Andaman and Nicobar Islands) have well developed Cyclone early warning systems in place. There are 7 Cyclone warning Centers covering the east & west coasts located at Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata and four Cyclone Warning Centres (CWCs) at Thiruvananthapuram, Visakhapatnam, Ahmedabad and Bhubaneswar and the Cyclone Warning Division centrally located in IMD Head Quarters at New Delhi.

The responsibility for operational storm warning work for the respective area rests with the ACWCs and CWCs. Area of responsibility of ACWCs and CWCs is shown in the Table below.

           *Coastal strip of responsibility extends upto 75 km from the coast line.

Various programs are being implemented in IMD under the umbrella scheme “Atmosphere & Climate Research-Modelling Observing Systems & Services (ACROSS)” of the MoES. Year-wise allocation and cumulative expenditure for all the 4 sub-schemes of IMD under ACROSS namely, Atmospheric Observation Network (AON), Upgradation of Forecast System (UFS), Weather & Climate Services (WCS) and Commissioning of Polarimetric Doppler Weather Radars (PDWR) during last five years are mentioned below:

(Rs. in Crores)

The sub-schemes under ACROSS are aimed at augmenting the observational network, improving the forecasting system and enhancement of Weather & Climate Services. These activities are meant for the entire country including Tamil Nadu. Details of these sub-schemes are as follows:

Atmospheric Observations Network (AON)

Main activities of the program undertaken during 2017-21: 

• Sustenance and Augmentation of observational networks comprising of Doppler Weather Radars (DWRs), Automatic Rain Gauges (ARGs), Automatic Weather Stations (AWSs), Upper Air, Surface and Environmental Observatories etc. Improve upon the spatial and temporal density of Radar observational network, particularly over the regions with large data gaps in the country.
• To improve and upgrade weather and climate services over north-eastern region by establishing additional state of art surface and upper air observatories for real time observations.
• Sustenance & Establishment of Multi processing, computing and communication facilities for Satellite Meteorological Applications.

Upgradation of Forecast System (UFS) 

Main activities of the program undertaken during 2017-21:

• Upgradation and sustenance of Communication Systems for Data and Product transmission.
• Development of an advanced Operational Forecast System, Delivery System for Forecast and other services.
• Conduct of special campaign for improving Cyclone, Thunderstorm and Fog forecasting through Aircraft reconnaissance and provision of additional observations.
• Integrated Himalayan Meteorological Programme for Western & Central Himalayas.
• Capacity Building, Outreach, Planning and sustenance of specific process related observing systems over India.

Weather & Climate Services (WCS)

Main activities of the program undertaken during 2017-21:

• Setting up of District Agro-Met Units (DAMUs) at all the districts complimentarily with existing AMFUs in the country for extension of Agromet Advisory Services (AAS). Till date 200 DAMUs have been established which includes 115 aspirational districts also.
• Major upgradation of Meteorological facilities at all airports through commissioning of State-of-art Integrated Aviation Weather Observing Systems (AWOS), HAWOS, Microwave Radiometers, Doppler LIDARs, Wind Profilers etc. to support Aeronautical MET Services.
• Establishment of a state-of the-art Climate Data Centre with integrated advanced Climate Data Services portal for rendering national and regional climate services.
• To upgrade the training infrastructure and facilities to enhance the capacity of the training establishment.

Commissioning of Polarimetric Doppler Weather Radars (PDWR)

The scheme “Commissioning of Polarimetric Doppler Weather Radars (DWRs)” is aimed at augmenting the DWR network over the country to facilitate plugging the existing gaps in the meteorological observational network of radars for most parts of the country, through installation of eleven C-Band dual polarized DWRs.

All 4 sub-schemes of IMD namely, AON, UFS, WCS and PDWR along with other sub-schemes under ACROSS were evaluated by an Independent Review Committee (IRC) taking the domain experts from various national Institutes/ Departments. The committee appreciated the work being done under the ACROSS scheme in terms of expansion of observation network, running high resolution models in all temporal and spatial scales, carrying out campaign studies for understanding the physical processes responsible for severe weather, generating weather and climate products for various applications, and developing effective communication strategies for timely delivery of services.

The IRC recommended continuation of all sub-schemes under ACROSS from the 14th Finance commission (2017-20) to the 15th Finance Commission, which has been approved recently.

Details of allocation under ACROSS-IMD during FY 2016-17 to 2020-21 are mentioned at part (b).

Cumulative Budgetary Estimates (B.E.) for all four sub-schemes of IMD during the FY 2021-22 are as follows:

30-Jul-2021: Cyclone Warning Centres

In order to cater to the needs of Cyclone Warning Services and Marine weather services, there are seven established Warning Centers covering the east & west coasts of our country. Among these, three are Area Cyclone Warning Centres (ACWCs) located at Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata and remaining four are Cyclone Warning Centres (CWCs) located at Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar.

Area of responsibility of ACWCs and CWCs is shown in the Table below.

Centre	Coastal area*	Maritime State/UT
ACWC Kolkata	State: West Bengal UT: Andaman & Nicobar Islands	State: West Bengal UT: Andaman & Nicobar Islands
ACWC Chennai	State: Tamil Nadu UT: Puducherry	State: Tamil Nadu UT: Puducherry
ACWC Mumbai	State: Maharashtra & Goa	State: Maharashtra & Goa
CWC Thiruvananthapuram	State: Kerala & Karnataka UT: Lakshadweep	State: Kerala & Karnataka UT: Lakshadweep

CWC Ahmedabad	State: Gujarat UT: Dadra-Nagar Haveli-Daman - Diu	State: Gujarat UT: Dadra-Nagar Haveli-Daman-Diu
CWC Visakhapatnam	State: Andhra Pradesh	State: Andhra Pradesh
CWC Bhubaneshwar	State: Odisha	State: Odisha

     *Coastal strip of responsibility extends upto 75 km from the coast line.

There is no plan for establishing more number of CWCs as the requirements of the entire coastal belt of the country is covered by the existing centres as mentioned above.

In the present scenario, India is second to none in early warning services as well as in managing the disasters associated with Cyclones. India Meteorological Department has demonstrated its capability to provide early warning for Cyclones with high precision. With the help of such early warnings, the Government is able to mobilise evacuation operations in a timely manner, thereby saving lives & livelihood. The cyclone forecast accuracy has significantly improved in recent years as has been demonstrated during cyclones Phailin (2013), Hudhud (2014), Vardah (2016), Titli (2018), Fani & Bulbul (2019), Amphan, Nisarga & Nivar(2020) and Tauktae & Yaas (2021). During the recent years, the loss of life has been drastically reduced.

It is planned to further enhance the accuracy of weather forecasts and their timely dissemination in the ensuing years, by improving the observational network and numerical modeling capability further.

Also, Government of India has initiated the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project (NCRMP) with a view to address cyclone risks in the country. The overall objective of the Project is to undertake suitable structural and non-structural measures to mitigate the effects of cyclones in the coastal states and UTs of India. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) under the aegis of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will implement the Project in coordination with participating State Governments and the National Institute for Disaster Management (NIDM). The Project has identified 13 cyclone prone States and Union Territories (UTs), with varying levels of vulnerability.

The main objective of the NCRMP is to reduce vulnerability of coastal communities to cyclone and other hydro meteorological hazards through;

1. improved early warning dissemination systems.
2. enhanced capacity of local communities to respond to disasters.
3. improved access to emergency shelter, evacuation, and protection against wind storms, flooding and storm surge in high areas.
4. strengthening the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) capacity at central, state and local levels in order to enable mainstreaming of risk mitigation measures into the overall development agenda.