Kashmir to have 22 weather stations soon

Each district in Jammu and Kashmir will soon have a state-of-the-art automatic weather station, making collection of the weather data more accessible.

Speaking to IANS here Tuesday on the World Meteorological Day, T.K. Jotshi, assistant director of the local weather office, admitted the state needed more weather observatories than the present ten, which he said was inadequate.

'At present, we have only ten weather observatories across the state while there are 22 districts and we need at least one weather observatory in each district,' Jotshi said, adding 22 state-of-the- art automatic weather stations would soon be in place in the state, one in each district.

'Each such automatic weather station would make weather forecasting, analysis of weather date and parameters more easy and readily available,' he said.

He said the weather office would also set up an automatic rain gauge station in at least two tehsils of each of the 22 districts in the state.

'This would make weather forecast and data available to the farmers and the residents of the state at the grassroots levels.'

'Weather has always played a crucial role in the lives of human beings, but in a Himalayan state like Jammu and Kashmir, weather knowledge becomes more essential and vital. We have got to inform the people about snowfall, inclement weather, avalanche threats, heavy or scant rainfall to plan their crops, etc,' he said.

Accurate and timely forecast of weather is also essential for planning and organising social functions like marriages, he added.

'Unexpected rainfall often spoils all the fun during such ceremonies. It is, therefore, important that we provide weather forecasts regularly to the people here and also try and inculcate in them the habit to learn more about weather by freely interacting with the weather office.'

'We are available to everybody who needs information and data about the weather. A social awareness has to be created that instead of consulting the soothsayers and crystal ball gazers, people ask us what is in store on the weather front,' Jotshi said.

He said an interactive voice response system is already installed and functional in the local weather office in Srinagar.

Source : Yahoo news

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