IMD DG Mrutyunjay Mohapatra Lauded For Accurate Prediction Of Cyclone Amphan

Bhubaneswar: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has lauded Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Director-General (DG) Mrutyunjay Mohapatra for accurate prediction of the super cyclonic storm Amphan that helped in early response and preventive actions.

Amphan had hit the Sunderbans and West Bengal coast as an extremely severe cyclonic storm on May 20.

“The services provided by IMD/Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre, New Delhi, showcased excellent lesson and best practices in tropical cyclone forecasting and warning services and response actions for effective mitigation of disaster,” the letter addressed to the IMD DG said.

Through RSM Centre, the IMD provides cyclone-related information to all the related countries in the North Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal.

WMO Secretary-General E Manaenkova also expressed gratitude to the Cyclone Man of India for providing advisory bulletin every three hours to all members of the WMO/ESCAP Panel on the tropical cyclones, particularly Bangladesh, from genesis to the formation till the negation of cyclone Amphan.

“The accurate prediction of the genesis, track, intensity, landfall point and time as well as associated weather like storm surge, rainfall, and wind by IMD/RSMC New Delhi with a lead period of more than three days immensely helped in their early response and actions,” the letter further said.

The advisories were also shared with WMO secretariat in Geneva and WMO regional offices in Singapore, Bahrain, and the WMO coordination hub.

“WMO secretary-general used the information from the bulletins to communicate with the UN secretary-general about Amphan. Those bulletins were also well-utilized by the WMO officer in New York to daily brief the relevant entities of the United Nations at its headquarters on the status and potential impact of Cyclone Amphan,” the letter said.

The WMO is part of the UN.

“The services initiated by Mohapatra and his team will serve as a lesson in tropical cyclone forecasting and warning services and response actions leading to sufficient preparedness for mitigation of losses and damages. The timely sharing of bulletins helped in taking necessary and timely action by WMO Coordination hubs spread worldwide,” it added.

Notably,  Mohapatra is India’s Permanent Representative with WMO.