Doppler radars will be installed in Uttarakhand by March 2020

NAINITAL: The central government on Wednesday told Uttarakhand high court (HC) that two doppler radars — one each at Mukteshwar and Surkanda Devi near Mussoorie — will be installed by the end of March 2020 and will become functional soon after. The government added that besides the radars, 107 automatic weather stations, 28 auto rain gauges and 16 snow gauges will also be installed in Uttarakhand.

The details were revealed to the bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma as it disposed of a petition that had sought the installation of the high-end devices and formulation of clear rules to predict and mitigate the effects of natural disasters such as the Kedarnath tragedy in the Himalayan state.

Through an affidavit, director of Dehradun meteorological centre Bikram Singh said that the radars are still being manufacted at Hyderabad and will be installed by the end of March 2020. “Efforts are also being made to complete the installation at the earliest,” the affidavit read.