Cabinet clears ‘Mission Mausam’ to boost weather forecasts

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved “Mission Mausam” to enhance India’s ability to predict and respond to extreme weather events and the impacts of climate change.

The mission, with a budget of Rs 2,000 crore over two years, will be primarily implemented by three key institutions under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) -- the India Meteorological Department, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and the National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting.

These will be supported by other MoES bodies, such as the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research and the National Institute of Ocean Technology.

The mission will focus on improving observations and understanding to

deliver highly accurate and timely weather and climate information across temporal and spatial scales.

This includes information on monsoon, air quality, extreme weather events, cyclones and weather interventions for managing fog, hail and rain.

Critical elements of “Mission Mausam” include the deployment of next-generation radars and satellite systems with advanced sensors, high-performance supercomputers, the development of enhanced Earth system models and a GIS-based automated decision support system for real-time data sharing, the Union Cabinet said in a statement.

The mission will benefit multiple sectors, including agriculture, disaster management, defence, aviation, energy, water resources and tourism. It will also improve decision-making in areas like urban planning, transportation and environmental monitoring.

The multi-faceted and transformative initiative will “tremendously boost India’s weather and climate-related science, research and services”, the Union Cabinet said.

It will equip stakeholders, including citizens and last-mile users, to better tackle extreme weather events and climate change impacts. The programme will help broaden capacity and resilience across communities, sectors and ecosystems in the long run, it said.

Climate change is triggering more extreme weather events, such as sudden heavy rainfall, heatwaves, and cyclones. Experts say these events are becoming harder to predict due to shifting patterns in the atmosphere and oceans.