Test-site proposed for monsoon study near Bhopal yet to get 16 instruments

Four years after finding a location for the facility, only nine of the total 25 requisite instruments have been installed till September this year

In 2018, the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) decided to set up a test-bed facility near Bhopal to study monsoon winds, clouds and synoptic systems passing via the core monsoon zone. The test-bed facility was aimed to improve monsoon forecasts and carry out dedicated studies on monsoon. However, four years since finding a location for the facility, only nine of the total 25 requisite instruments have been installed till September this year.

According to a report in The Indian Express, the high-end weather instruments yet to be installed at the site include a 75-metre-tall tower mounted with instruments, meant for measuring atmospheric and greenhouse gas measurements, and an Automatic Weather Station (AWS). The test-bed site is expected to cost Rs 125 crore to install. The site, once completely set up, will allow climate scientists to study the properties, convection processes in cloud, precipitation and land-atmosphere interaction over this zone.

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The 16 remaining uninstalled instruments include terrestrial radiation measuring instrument; wind profiler; aerosol chemical speciation monitor; single particle soot photometer; sun or sky radiometer; instruments to measure direct, diffused, total and terrestrial radiations, soil moisture and temperature.

In the reply to the Right to Information (RTI) application filed, it is stated that the procurement of certain instruments is still in either process or planning stage.

India receives most of its annual rainfall from June to September. Extreme conditions like floods or droughts are on the rise owing to the rising unpredictability of rainfall patterns and distribution. These unprecedented conditions also bring forth a threat to food and water security of the country. The need for studies related to monsoons was realised as they are turning more and more unpredictable in recent years.

The commissioning of the first phase is scheduled for December this year and full-scale operations will begin only in March 2026, as per the RTI reply.