JNU to get own weather, climate tracking system

The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration has proposed to set up an automatic weather station and an environmental monitoring station at the Special Centre for Disaster Research (SCDR) to collect data on meteorological conditions and pollutants in the air in the national Capital.

The centre would track changes in weather patterns and notify Delhi government before natural calamities or any major weather changes, officials said. The university will set up these stations in collaboration with a private weather monitoring agency, for which a memorandum of agreement (MoA) will be signed on Tuesday.

“The station’s pollution monitoring station and automatic weather station will be set up within 15 days of signing the MoA. Once the stations are installed, weather, air intensity, pollution information, air humidity level data will be collected on a daily basis,” Amita Singh, chairperson, SCDR, said.

The collected data will be used for research at the University. “We have been data collected by weather monitoring agencies for research, as of now. We have, so far, not been involved in deciphering environmental and weather-related data. It will help us provide an accurate and timely analysis of Delhi’s weather pattern,” Bipin Kumar, a researcher associated with the project, said.

Besides weather and environmental monitoring, the centre also maps the city to find out all the “aquifers” across Delhi, upon which there are constructions. An aquifer is a body of permeable rock which can contain or transmit groundwater. “In Delhi the aquifers are as large as the Yamuna, and all the aquifers in the city are almost gone. It’s a dangerous situation because when the aquifers are constructed upon, the rocks become really fragile. In such cases any natural calamity, such as an earthquake, or high rainfall can sink the entire area, as it is all vacuum inside,” Singh said.

Singh said the automatic weather station will enable the university to predict areas that can face flood-like situations during monsoons. “With this monitoring system, we can predict how much floods can be caused by a certain amount of rain and which areas will be affected,” she said.

The university is also going to set up a community radio station to disseminate environment-related information to people residing in nearby areas.