Weather forecasting dept to get modern technology within two years

KATHMANDU, Sept 15: If work progresses as planned, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) will have the state-of-the-art facilities in less than two years.

According to Sarju Baidya, deputy director general at the DHM, the only government body that disseminates facts and figures on weather and climatic conditions of Nepal, they will have the latest technology within two years.

"We have completed the preliminary task of brainstorming and calling up of exerts for modernizing the DHM. Now, the process of asking for procurement and consultancy has begun. Within two years, the DHM will have a fresh look with latest facilities in operation," said Baidya.

The whole task of upgrading and modernizing the DHM comes under the ongoing Building Resilience to Climate Related Hazards (BRCH) project, which is in operation since 2013.

BRCH is a project under Nepal's Strategic Program for Climate Change Resilience (SPRC), which has been financially supported by the World Bank (WB). A total of 31 million US dollars have been allocated for the project. As per the preliminary agreement, the project will end in July 2018.

The BRCH project is being jointly implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture Development (MoAD) and the DHM under the coordination of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (MoSTE).

The project aims to develop the government's capacity to mitigate climate related hazards by improving the accuracy and timeliness of weather and flood forecasting systems and warning for agricultural management information services to help farmers mitigate climate related production risks.

"Over 85 meteorological weather stations and 30 hydrological stations will be installed at our new building. The DHM will have the latest equipment like sonic radars that will help us make accurate forecast," said Baidya.

Recognizing the high levels of exposure to climate change risk, the Climate Change Investment Fund (CIF) had selected Nepal as one of the ninth pilot countries for the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR) since 2009.

For decades, the DHM has been operating through traditional approaches. Manual practices of taking weather reports are still in use.

"After the completion of works involving office setup and installation of latest equipment, the DHM will produce real-time data of weather conditions. This will not only benefit the farmers but people from various sectors like tourism, civil aviation and many more," said Kamal Prakash Budhathoki, the project's technical coordinator.

According to Budhathoki, 25 million US dollars have been separated for the DHM and the remaining US$ 6 million for Department of Agriculture.