PMO asks Met department to tell people what action to take when it issues a weather warning
Ministry of Earth Sciences Secretary M Rajeevan said the prime minister was concerned about the recent deaths caused by extreme weather conditions.
The Prime Minister’s Office has asked the India Meteorological Department to advise people on what action to take when a weather warning is issued, Ministry of Earth Sciences Secretary M Rajeevan told PTI on Monday. Around 100 people have been killed in thunderstorms in seven states over the past two weeks.
Rajeevan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was concerned about the deaths caused by extreme weather conditions and had asked the Met department to give “actionable points”. He said the PMO and the National Disaster Management Authority want alerts issued by the Met department to be more specific. “We need to really give points on what action people should take.”
Rajeevan said that in a forecast for a severe storm, for instance, the Met department should issue a warning saying, “The system is really very severe and you have to be indoors and should avoid going out.” He said just informing people about a weather “system” was not enough. At present, the Met department issues warnings about weather conditions two hours in advance.
On Sunday, Rajeevan told PTI that the Met department went overboard with issuing a “severe” thunderstorm warning.
At least 80 people were killed as thunderstorms, dust storms lashed Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh from May 13. Over 120 people were injured in Uttar Pradesh, 11 in Delhi and two in Uttarakhand.
On May 9, sixteen people were killed and 25 injured in a thunderstorm that hit nine districts of Uttar Pradesh.