The Regional Meteorological Centre is considering plans to set up two radars in the state to enhance the spectrum of weather forecasting in the state. According to the RMC, presently, there is one radar at the New Secretariat Building that serves Kolkata and its adjoining areas.
The one brought from Germany is called the sea band radar. The weather office is mulling plans to instal an additional X-band radar having coverage of around 100- 150km for south Bengal at Diamond Harbour.
According to the deputy director general of RMC, Sanjib Bandyopadhyay as the city is dotted with tall structures that pose a hurdle in the path of the radar, the weather department has strategically selected the location of Diamond Harbour Women’s University. “Despite efforts, a suitable space could not be identified in Kolkata for the radar because the government office buildings in Kolkata have the tallest height of 14 storeys while the private ones have 24 or 25 floors or even extending up to 42.
Naturally, there is a major obstruction in Kolkata for installation of the radar. In Diamond Harbour a space has been identified from where Kolkata would also be covered without any hindrance,” informed the DDG of RMC. Even though the sea band radar does the work for south Bengal, North Bengal is still out of reach of such a system.
Considering the fact, the RMC Kolkata, which is the largest in terms of area covered, is mulling over plans to set up sea band radar in Malda. The system would be installed at the office building of the Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture (CISH) covering a range of around 300 to 350km. It is expected to serve North Bengal, Bangladesh, parts of Bihar and Jharkhand.
“With the installation of this radar, entire north Bengal would be covered and no thunderstorms in this part of the state would remain undetected,” added Mr Bandyopadhyay