ISLAMABAD: The Meteorological Department has officially inaugurated its new Rs10 billion Specialised Medium Range Weather Forecasting System on Wednesday.

Unlike the old system, that was not able to view anything past Margalla Hills, the new equipment is advanced.

This newly inaugurated system was part of a project for the establishment of a specialised centre for medium-range weather forecasting and strengthening of the existing system. The upgrade was possible through a Japanese grant.

Funding was delayed and the project, which began in 2007 was halted after Japan was devastated by a tsunami in 2011. It was restarted in 2014 and the new system was finally tested in 2020.

At the inauguration ceremony, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan Kuninori Matsuda, Chief representative from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Shigeki Furuta, Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan and Mohammad Riaz, director general of Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) were present.

Met Director Planning Dr M Tahir Khan said: “The new technology will help us predict wind-driven weather systems precisely and their location. Being able to predict the timing of the weather systems is crucial now. It will also allow more storage space for data in terabytes, which was not possible.”

Weather systems under the grant are being developed in Sukkur and Multan while in Karachi, the system is already up and ready for testing. Being in plain areas, two radar systems that would be installed in Sukkur and Multan will give experts an edge while predicting weather patterns.

According to the Met Office, technical trainings on the operation and maintenance of the weather radar, utilisation of various meteorological products for weather forecasting were conducted as well. In addition to this, meteorological data communication systems have been installed in five PMD Regional Meteorological Centres, enabling exchange of data - radar images and observations - between centres.

Mr Matsuda said: “Japan will remain committed to continuously enhance Pakistan’s resilience in coping with natural disasters.”

“I hope that the project enables Pakistan to forecast weather more accurately and contribute to mitigation of damage caused by natural disasters in the country,” Mr Furuta said.

Both speaker reiterated that the Japanese government and JICA will continue to assist disaster risk management initiatives conducted by Pakistan.

The country is regularly faced with natural disasters like floods, landslides, cyclones and earthquakes; every year Pakistan experiences heavy damages due to floods, triggered by heavy rains during the monsoon season.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2021