DISASTER PREPAREDNESS
Your HAM radio may soon bring you a warning on heavy rains …..Madhavi Rajadhyaksha & Juhi Popat
Mumbai: This monsoon, Mumbaikars might get early warnings of heavy-rain days or passing cyclones, with the meteorological bureau networking with HAM operators in the city.
Whenever disasters have struck in the past, communication has been one of the major casualties, said Sudhir Shah, a HAM operator.
HAM radio operators get satellite images to figure out turbulence in the weather, but will now also be armed with weather bureau forecasts. The two groups joined other disaster management agencies including the BMC, police, state government in a meeting organised by the Malabar Hill Road Association at the Cathedral Infants School, Malabar Hill on Saturday.
The weather bureau is setting up 10 automatic weather stations, which would help monitor rainfall, temperature, humidity, wind direction and wind speed. The BMC has installed 34 of these mainly at fire stations, but these are generally used for rainfall monitoring, said MET officials.
Deputy director of the regional meteorological bureau, Dr R V Sharma predicted that rainfall for the country was likely to be normal.