PIB News Update: Minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has informed that In order to cater to the needs of Cyclone Warning Services and Marine weather services, there are seven Warning Centers covering the east & west coasts of our country. Among these, three are Area Cyclone Warning Centres (ACWCs) located at Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata and remaining four are Cyclone Warning Centres (CWCs) located at Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar. Area of responsibility of ACWCs and CWCs is shown in the Tablebelow.
| Centre | Coastal area* | Maritime State/UT |
|
ACWC Kolkata |
State: West Bengal
UT: Andaman & Nicobar Islands |
State: West Bengal
UT: Andaman & Nicobar Islands |
| ACWC Chennai | State: Tamil Nadu UT: Puducherry |
State: Tamil Nadu
UT: Puducherry |
| ACWC Mumbai | State: Maharashtra & Goa | State: Maharashtra & Goa |
| CWC
Thiruvananthapuram |
State: Kerala & Karnataka UT: Lakshadweep |
State: Kerala & Karnataka
UT: Lakshadweep |
|
CWC Ahmedabad |
State: Gujarat
UT: Dadra-Nagar Haveli- Dainan-Diu |
State: Gujarat
UT: Dadra-Nagar Haveli- Daman-Diu |
| CWC Visakhapatnam | State: Andhra Pradesh | State: Andhra Pradesh |
| CWC Bhubaneshwar | State: Odisha | State: Odisha |
*Coastal strip of responsibility extends up to 75 km from the coastline.
ForecastandwarningforthehighseaareasofArabianSeaandthatforBayofBengalarethe responsibilities of ACWC Mumbai and ACWC Kolkatarespectively.
There is no plan for establishing more number of CWCs as the requirements of the entirecoastalbeltofthecountryiscoveredbytheexistingcentresasmentionedabove.
India Meteorological Department has demonstrated its capability to provide early warning for Cyclones with high precision and has earned accolades globally and nationally for very effective, state of art early warning system for monitoring and prediction of cyclones. The cyclone forecast accuracy has significantly improved in recent years as has been demonstrated during cyclones Phailin (2013), Hudhud (2014), Vardah (2016), Titli (2018), Fani&Bulbul(2019)andAmphan&Nisarga(2020).Duetothis,inrecentyears,the loss of life has been drastically reduced, being limited to double digit figuresonly.
Further improvements in the observational network and numerical modeling capability are also expected to increase the accuracy of weather forecasts.
Further, the Government of India has initiated the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project (NCRMP) with a view to address cyclone risks in the country. The overall objective of the Project is to undertake suitable structural and non-structural measures to mitigate the effects of cyclones in the coastal states and Union Territories of India. National Disaster ManagementAuthority(NDMA)undertheaegisofMinistryofHomeAffairs(MHA)willbe implementing this Project in coordination with participating State Governments and the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). The Project has identified 13 cyclone prone States and UnionTerritories(UTs),withvaryinglevelsofvulnerabilityforimplementationpurpose.
The main objective of the NCRMP is to reduce vulnerability of coastal communities to cyclone and other hydro meteorological hazards through
–improved early warning dissemination systems.
–enhanced capacity of local communities to respond to disasters.
–improved access to emergency shelter, evacuation, and protection against wind storms, flooding and storm surge in high areas.
–strengthening DRM capacity at central, state and local levels in order
enable mainstreaming of risk mitigation measures into the overall development agenda.