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RMC says uses world class tech, refutes delayed warning claims
Regional Meteorological Centre in Chennai said it was because of its experts that a lot of lives were saved during the impact of various cyclones including Vardah, Gaja, Nivar and Michaung
The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Chennai refuted the allegations that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) failed to forecast the intensity of the rains in Tamil Nadu and issued a delayed warning while saying that the department uses “world class tech”, according to a statement issued on Saturday.
Calling out the criticism, the RMC in their statement said that it “hurts the sentiments of the dedicated employees” of the centre and is an “insult to Indian technology”.
Earlier, chief minister MK Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government in state had claimed that there was a delay by the IMD in issuing a weather warning.“It rained several times higher than what was forecast by the meteorological centre. It was unprecedented,” said Stalin in Delhi.
The Tamil Nadu government had also called for upgrading of the country’s weather forecasting systems.
The RMC in its statement said that their department is world-class. “There are several equipment -- high speed computers, Indian Space Research Organisation’s satellite support facilities, RADAR which are world-class. There are two Doppler Radars (for Chennai) and three Doppler Radars to monitor Tamil Nadu,” the statement said.
It was because of such facilities and experts working in RMC in Chennai that a lot of lives were saved during the impact of various cyclones including Vardah, Gaja, Nivar and Michaung, the statement said.
“Making such criticism hurts the sentiments of the dedicated employees of the centre and it is an insult to Indian technology,” the RMC said, appealing to people to avoid such criticism.
In another development, the Thalaikundha area Nilgiris district on Sunday was covered in frost as temperature dipped. Tamil Nadu chief secretary Shiv Das Meena continued to inspect the on-going relief work in Thoothukudi district on Sunday which was battered by record rains. The main priority is to restore electricity, repair damaged roads and ensure supply of essential items such as milk, Meena said.
The central and Tamil Nadu governments on December 22 had sparred over the flood situation in the southern state after Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman countered chief minister MK Stalin’s claim of a delay by the IMD in issuing a weather warning, and state finance minister Thangam Thennarasu accused her of refusing relief funds for rain-affected districts.
The four southern districts of Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi and Kanyakumari were engulfed by ceaseless rain on December 17 and 18, which was the region’s wettest spell since 1871, according to Stalin.
Thoothukudi recorded 95 cm rain in a span of 24 hours, which is more than the annual rain of 70cm for the district, as per the IMD. Earlier on Friday during a press conference in New Delhi, Sitharaman said that at least 31 people were killed in rain-related incidents in the four districts.
As the Union minister attacked the state government over its alleged lack of preparedness to tackle the floods, she also dismissed Stalin’s claims of IMD’s delay in issuing timely warnings about the extreme rain in the four districts. The RMC in Chennai had forecast heavy rains in the southern state well in advance, Sitharaman said.
