India's highest meteorological centre opened at Leh

India's highest meteorological centre was inaugurated by Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan via video conferencing today. Located at a height of 3500m, MetCenterLeh will provide forecast for important tourist places like Nubra, Changthang, Pangong Lake, Zanskar, Kargil, Drass, Dha-Baima (Aryan valley), Khalsi among others.

"The Centre will be a world class facility for high altitude meteorology and will cater to the various kinds of weather and climate needs of the people and the administration of Ladakh," said Dr Harsh Vardhan.

Ladakh region is vulnerable to various kinds of natural hazards like cloud bursts, flash floods, avalanches and glacial lake outbursts, etc. "It is to avert losses due to such weather events in future that the government felt the need to establish a state-of-the-art meteorological centre at Leh in 2020 to strengthen weather related Early Warning System in Ladakh," he said.

IMD will provide a range of weather forecast services, ranging from short (three days) and medium (12 days) to extended (one month) period to all the stakeholders on a daily basis for both the districts (Leh and Kargil).

<img class="wp-image-51022 size-large" src="https://indianarrative.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/H2020122994170-1024×357.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="357" /> The Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan at the inauguration of the Meteorological Centre, at Leh (Ladakh), through video conferencing from New Delhi on Tuesday

"Apart from district level forecast, IMD will provide forecasts for important tourist places like Nubra, Changthang, Pangong Lake, Zanskar, Kargil, Drass, Dha-Baima (Aryan valley), Khalsi, etc. Some of the important services to be made available are highway forecast, forecast for mountaineering, trekking, agriculture, flash flood warning, low and high temperatures among others," the minister explained.

He assured that the government will make every effort to provide the best possible weather services to the administration and the people of Ladakh and make Ladakh safe and secure from the vagaries of weather. “The met center will be a world class facility for high altitude meteorology and will cater to the various kinds of weather and climate needs of the people and the administration of Ladakh," Dr Harsh Vardhan said.

Radha Krishna Mathur, the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, emphasised upon the need for micro-climatic forecasting keeping in view the climatic variety of the Ladakh region. He highlighted the importance of localised weather information and the need to create a weather application for all stakeholders.

Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, the Member of Parliament from Ladakh, also expressed his gratitude to the government for setting up the centre..