Odisha’s Cyclone Expert Takes Charge As Met DG

New Delhi: Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, who hails from Odisha’s Bhadrak district, took charge as the Director General of Meteorology of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday.

Mohapatra and his team at the IMD’s Cyclone Warning Centre have won accolades for accurate forecasts of cyclones, including Fani, and their likely impact.

The Odisha-born meteorologist is also the permanent representative of India at the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and a Member of Executive Council, WMO. Before joining IMD, Mohapatra was working with the Defence Research and Development Organisation at Chandipur, Balasore.

Talking to media after taking charge of his new assignment, Mohapatra said his prime focus will be impact-based weather forecast.

“My first mission is to bring the entire country under the Doppler Radar by August 15, 2022,” he added.

Referring to Odisha, Mahapatra said two Doppler Radars have been set up at Paradip and Gopalpur. Efforts are on to set up another Doppler Radar at Sambalpur. “At present, we are using the Radar of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at Balasore. In case we are not using their Radar, we will set up another Radar in the district.

“Our main objective is to provide hourly weather data to all the blocks across the country,” he pointed out.