Bhubaneswar: The state government Monday urged the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to upgrade its existing office here to a regional meteorological centre as the state has been facing several natural calamities such as cyclones and floods. State Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari placed the demand at a function on the occasion of the IMD’s 150 years of service.
At present, IMD has six regional centres in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Nagpur, Kolkata and Guwahati. He also said, “Odisha has become a permanent address for different types of disasters. Therefore, we urge the director general of the IMD to set up a regional office of the weather department here,” the minister said. IMD DG Mrutyunjaya Mohapatra said, “The IMD has weather monitoring stations in all 30 districts of Odisha and Doppler radars at Paradip and Gopalpur, while three more places – Balasore, Sambalpur and Bhubaneswar – will get the facility soon.”