The regional Met office in Jalpaiguri. Picture by Biplab Basak

Siliguri, April 1: In a bid to make a more intensive and elaborate weather forecasting, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has decided to set up a new, larger and modern Met office in Jalpaiguri.

The new centre will integrate the operations of four constituent offices spread across Siliguri and Jalpaiguri.

“To ensure better analysis of data and the forecast based on them, the IMD has decided to upgrade the technology and integrate the operations by bringing all the divisions under one roof,” said T.K. Chakraborty, the director of the regional Met office in Jalpaiguri. The new office will be equipped with sophisticated gadgets.

The divisions to be housed at the proposed centre include seismological observatory and the radiosonde & radio wind department, which measures wind speed, relative humidity and collects data from the upper atmosphere with the help of a weather balloon, both located in Siliguri. The flood forecasting observatory, which issues warnings on flood and water levels in rivers, based in Jalpaiguri, will also be shifted to the new office.

“Our present office, from where we issue weather forecasts and provide recorded temperature and rainfall, will also be moved to the new office,” said Chakraborty.

“We hope that the department will get Radar and some other instruments to observe and assess climate conditions in a better way. Specialised areas like agro-meteorology will also be pursued in the new set-up, ” said Chakraborty.

The department has already acquired 104 acres of land in Jalpaiguri for the new centre.