TSDPS proposed to set up 166 more Automatic Weather Stations

Telangana |  Suryaa Desk  | Published : Sat, Jul 14, 2018, 10:49 AM

Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS) proposed to set up 166 more Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits in addition to the existing 41. TSDPS is also working to set up 115 AWS across the State, and identified locations.

The decision to push for more AWS in Hyderabad was taken following recommendations from IIT-Mumbai, which suggested one AWS for every 4 km. In addition to providing weather forecast, the proposed AWS will also communicate information to different line departments at regular intervals.

These details were shared by experts who participated in a workshop on Urban Flooding organised by TSDPS here on Friday. AWS will be equipped with advanced software, and information pertaining to rainfall can be disseminated at different time intervals of 15 minutes or one hour, as desired by the nodal agency. Depending on the quality and technology, the cost of one AWS ranges from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. GHMC Commissioner B Janardhan Reddy said more AWS will aid in taking up remedial measures effectively.

Once the flood forecast is available precisely for a particular circle or area, remedial measures such as deploying men and machinery can be taken up, he said. TSDPS also plans to set up 10 weather display boards at different locations across the city, which will be display temperature, rainfall and humidity. TSDPS CEO SK Meera appealed to the GHMC Commissioner to identify locations to set up display boards. The locations will be identified in consultation with traffic police, he said.

Taking cues from Mumbai

After the devastating floods in 2005, Mumbai took up some tough measures — clearing encroachments along River Mithi, establishing AWS and others — which are bearing fruit now, said experts at the Urban Flooding workshop.  Many slums mushroomed and several unauthorised structures were constructed along the river bed.

Over the years, the river pathway shrunk and this led to widespread inundation during the 2005 floods, IIT professor Kapil Gupta said.To gauge the intensity of rains and take up remedial measures effectively, 60 AWS were set up within a year and encroachments were cleared. A retaining wall — 6 m in height and covering 12 km  was constructed along the river bund, Gupta said. GHMC is also taking up similar measures, but needs to intensify these to avoid any untoward incidents. “Over 28,000 unauthorised structures along drains across the city are being demolished in the first phase with an expenditure of Rs 230 crore,” said GHMC Commissioner B Janardhan Reddy.








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