Mumbai To Get Five New Weather Radars As City’s Only Doppler Radar Fails

Madhavan Rajeevan, Secretary at the Ministry of Earth Sciences, has acknowledged the failure of Mumbai’s only weather monitoring Doppler radar, deeming the incident “very unfortunate.” The radar reportedly failed to work even as Cyclone Tauktae came within 120 km of its location.  

However, Rajeevan clarified that this did not impact their ability to monitor the severe cyclone. The S-Band radar at the Regional Meteorological Centre in Colaba carries a powerful antenna with the ability to track around a radius of 500 km coupled with decent transmission capabilities. A report in September last year spoke of a second Doppler radar (C-Band) coming up in the city by December 2020. 

Though Rajeevan mentioned that the Doppler radar was an important tool, he added that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had other platforms that aided in providing a “perfect forecast” of Cyclone Tauktae, including information on time, intensity, as well as landfall location.  

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In response to a user about the potential blindspot with a non-functional radar, Rajeevan tweeted “I agree, very unfortunate. But it did not affect monitoring as IMD had access to 3 high resolution satellites. We are installing one C band & four X band radars in Mumbai in the next 3-4 months, delayed due to Covid crisis. New radars at Mangalore & Ahmedabad also on cards.”

I agree, very unfortunate. But it did not affect monitoring as IMD had access to 3 high resolution satellites.

We are installing one C band & four X band radars in Mumbai in next 3-4 months, delayed to COVID crisis. New radars at Mangalore & Ahmedabad also on cards. @moesgoi https://t.co/foeIoP8VRx

— Madhavan Rajeevan (@rajeevan61) May 18, 2021

Although C Band and X Band radars offer a range of up to 350 km and 50 km, respectively, they are known to provide high-resolution imagery of the clouds that allows meteorologists to get a clearer picture of an incoming cyclone. 

Also read - Cyclone Tauktae: Indian Navy Rescues 177 People So Far Onboard Barge Adrift Off Mumbai