Now, log on to WWW to check weather

Govt has launched an exclusive weather portal aimed specifically at providing climate-related information.

An exclusive weather portal aimed specifically at providing climate-related information has been launched by the Centre, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said on Wednesday.

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"It is being launched with an aim of providing weather and climate related information in a user-friendly way at one stop," Sibal said.

The portal, www.indiaweatherwatch.org, which has been set up on a public-private partnership, involves the Indian Meteorological Department, the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), the Indian Institute for Tropical Meteorology, Pune, and the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"Currently, there is no user-friendly website for weather information," he said, adding that there had been demands from various sectors for such a website.

The portal has been launched as part of the Government's commitment to providing a world class weather forecast system by 2008-09 and a 'climate channel' before 2010 Commonwealth Games, Sibal said.

The portal would disseminate current weather information for about 200 locations and five-day forecasts for 20 cities including Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Dehra Dun, Delhi, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Goa, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Trivandrum, Srinagar, Pune and Patna.