The SMS-based alert system launched by Earth System Science Organisation-India Meteorological Department (ESSO-IMD) has helped thousands of farmers in Chhattisgarh and seven other Sates take safeguards to minimise crop damage during thunder and squall last month. The alerts and warning along with agro-meteorological advisories were issued to 51.5 lakh farmers in the country during the second week of April 2015 about the occurrence of thunder/squall along with possible hailstorm in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana.
This was stated by the Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr Harsh Vardhan in a statement in reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha. The ESSO-IMD had launched an SMS-based alert system for general public for dissemination of weather and disaster-related (cyclone, severe weather storms, heavy rains) information.
Under this round-the-clock web-based operational system, the ESSO-IMD will send SMS to individuals who would register themselves at the weather forecaster’s official website (www.imd.gov.in) for this purpose. Besides giving information about natural calamities, the system will also suggest what action needs to be taken. In addition for countries in the North Indian Ocean, a free registration procedure has been started in the ESSO-IMD at Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC), cyclone website www.rsmcnewdelhi.imd.gov.in).
The ESSO-IMD has started sending SMS based Cyclone/Tsunami/ Earthquakes parameters based alerts to disaster managers of Central government like National Disaster Management and their Control Room of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Central Water Commission (CWC) and DG Shipping etc. along with the disaster managers of the states in 2012.
ESSO-IMD has also launched a mobile application for Android based smart phone/tablets on Good Governance Day Observed on December 25, 2014. The mobile App by the name ‘Indian Weather’ is downloadable from Google play store, free of cost. Presently, the app provides current weather and 4 days weather forecast across the country for 310 cities. The mobile app. shall also be hosted for free download from the government mobile Appstore (https:/apps.mgov.gov.in/indwx.isp).
The Gramin Krishi Mausam Seva (GKMS) of the ESSO-IMD has been successful in providing the crop specific advisories to the farmers at the district level twice weekly through different print/visual/Radio/ IT based wider dissemination media including short message service (SMS) and Integrated Voice Response System (IVRS) directly to farming community. It has been extended to fishermen along the coast through the SMS facility of ESSO-Indian National centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad, since October 2013. It was further extended to be disseminated through ‘Kisan Portal’ since 2014.
Weather forecast and agro-meteorological advisories issued for the areas sensitive to different kinds of weather hazards help the farmers in taking appropriate decisions on weather sensitive farm operations like selection of crop varieties, sowing time, application of fertilizers, pesticides, advancing harvest etc. Some of the accrued benefits at large owing to ESSO-IMD services include:
Due to prior intimation provided during cyclone Hudhud in the second week of October 2014, around 1.9 million farmers in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, East Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh could take possible preventive measures to safeguard the crops like rice, sugarcane, banana etc. from heavy rainfall and high winds. Similar alerts and warnings issued in association with cyclone NIlOFAR sent to 2.1 lakh farmers in Gujarat State during end of October 2014 had benefitted farmers to prevent the crop damage like rice, cotton and groundnut from heavy rainfall.