Failure of the air-conditioning system and the consequent surge in room temperature has disrupted the functioning of the Cyclone Detection and Radar Station here. With the monsoon round the corner, its functioning is crucial.
The Doppler Radar System at the IMD Station has not been functional for the last 10 days. The reason: officials concerned have failed to undertake repairs to the air-conditioner on a war-footing.
One of the two air-conditioners at the station stopped working a fortnight ago, sharply increasing the room temperature at the station.
The radar system is expected to become functional once the air-conditioner is put in place in a couple of days. The station will miss some crucial data regarding formation of clouds if the radar is shut down for some more time.
The radar system provides information about conditions such as upper air weather in 50 km radius, according to officials. The system transmits crucial data such as cloud density, amount of rainfall, thunderstorm, windstorm, formation and location of a system, and disturbance caused by cloud and rainfall to the ground unit.
The radar also provides quantitative inputs, including the rate of rainfall. The system's inputs are pronounced in the IMD's forecast that includes the shape and extension of the weather system during monsoon. Keeping track of the system movement is another major work of the radar.
‘ACs in place'
The station officials claim that everything will be functional within a couple of days. “With dry weather continuing for the last 10 days, the shutting down of the radar has not caused many problems. Anyhow, necessary repair works have been taken up and the ACs are in place now,” claims Station Director K. Ramachandra Rao.
It is one of the six cyclone detection radars put up by the Indian Meteorological Department under the Ministry of Earth Sciences along the East Coast. The other centres include one each at Kolkata, Paradip, Visakhapatnam, Karaikal, and Chennai. The original radar, installed in 1981, was replaced with the upgraded radar in 2004.
