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Four new weather forecasting radars in offing for Mumbai Metropolitan Region areas

Currently, the city has only one radar at Colaba and another one is on its way

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From next year onwards, the city will hopefully have a better warning system when it comes to heavy or very heavy rains. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) will get a cover of four new radars by the next year. Currently, the city has only one radar at Colaba and another one is on its way. Though the new ones can capture data only up to 50 km radius as compared to the 500 km radius the present one captures, the new ones are specially for the prediction of cumulonimbus cloud over the city that causes heavy to very heavy rain.

The demand for upgraded radar was started after the 26 July deluge in 2005. Initially, Mumbai was supposed to get advanced doppler radar from China, but later it was decided to replace them by S-band Indian made Radar for security reason. The Radar is especially used for the observation of cyclone and heavy rainfall. The city required another radar in view of increasing numbers of high rises and obstacles in the monitoring weather. The Indian Meteorology Department (IMD) had already approved another C band Radar which will be installed in the Veravali, Andheri near the water tank of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and has a radius of 250 km. Tendering work for four radars has already been started by IMD. 

"The radars will be X band type. The range of the radar will be small compared to S-band Radar which is already installed. But this radar will help to observe Nimbus cloud which gives heavy rain," said K S Hosalikar, deputy director general, Western Region, IMD. Type X radars are already installed in the Himalayan region in view of the high-intensity rainfall and cloud burst that occur in those places.

Out of the four radars, one will be installed in Navi Mumbai, one in Thane and remaining two in the Mumbai (One on Ghatkopar and the other area is yet to decided). Finding land for the radar in Mumbai is one of the challenges. IMD had waited for more than two years to find space for previous radars. But the good thing is X band radar is very small and about 2 to 3 tonne in weight and does not need much piling work.

The BMC and IMD have set up 140 automatic weather stations in and around the city, and are now going to provide information Mumbai Weather Live app at every 15 minutes.

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