CCTVs to monitor automatic weather stations in Maharashtra to prevent tampering

Maharashtra's Department of Agriculture plans to install nearly 2,092 CCTV cameras across the state to prevent data tampering at automatic weather stations (AWS), according to a report by The Indian Express. Officials suspect people tamper with the automatic weather stations to qualify for crop compensation.

According to officials, an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based platform recently offered to provide their services to help monitor them. An information campaign that aims to educate farmers about crop insurance schemes would also be initiated by officials.

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The police have filed an FIR against individuals accused of tampering with an automatic weather station located in the Deodaithan revenue circle of Shrigonda taluka in Ahmednagar district.

While the rainfall unit in the AWS had indicated medium to heavy rainfall from August 28 to September 2, other parameters did not adhere to the conditions needed for rainfall, the report states. Agriculture department officials concluded that the rain gauge was tampered with. This, officials believe, was done to hit the “triggers” for excess rainfall needed for payment of compensation under the Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) for horticulture crops.

The rainfall unit of AWS had indicated medium to heavy rainfall from the end of August to the beginning of September. However, conditions were not conducive for these rainfall levels, suggesting that there the system had been tweaked to deliver these rainfall levels.

It is suspected by experts that the AWS was tampered with so that people could collect compensation under the Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) for horticulture crops.

In 2019, three instances of similar tampering were reported from Jalgaon. Ice blocks were placed on radiation measuring devices in order to bring out a lower temperature.

Maharashtra’s AWS network is based as part of a Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme. Skymet maintains the necessary infrastructure and data, which the government uses to provide compensation under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).