Science and technology minister Gautam Singh operates the radar at Anisabad in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, Dec. 27: Inclement weather would no more bother the residents of the state capital. They would be prepared to face it. Weathermen here are now armed with a hi-tech radar to predict squalls, storms and rain in advance.

Science and technology minister Gautam Singh today inaugurated the Doppler weather radar in the state capital. The state-of-the-art facility will allow experts to monitor wind velocity and direction, cloud formation, turbulence, squalls and thunderstorm, within a radius of 500km around the city. Earlier, they had to depend on hydrogen balloons, which had a vertical limit of 16km and could cover a radius of only 150km from its base.

After inaugurating the facility at Anisabad, Singh said: “The Doppler weather radar will prove to be a landmark in the development of Bihar. The radar will benefit each and every citizen. It will allow the weathermen to issue advance warning about adverse weather conditions like thunderstorms, tornados and flash floods. This will reduce the loss of life and property.”

Experts at the Met department agreed with the minister.

Animesh Chanda, director, Patna Met department, said: “The radar will be able to monitor weather conditions over Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and Chhattisgarh. It will now be possible to predict storms and their movement three hours in advance. Rainfall can be predicted at least six hours in advance.”

The hi-tech device is the seventh radar installed by India Metrological Department (IMD) across the country. It costs Rs 6 crore. Around Rs 8 crore has also been spent to construct a building to house it. It can generate 30 different weather products that can be helpful for aviation, agriculture, telecommunications and research.

IMD director-general Ajit Tyagi said: “The Doppler weather radar is a powerful machine. It monitors atmospheric component with radio detection and ranging equipment. The machine here will be important for observing weather conditions across the country, as the monsoon trough line passes through Bihar.”

He added: “We intend to install 58 more radars in other cities, including Patiala, Lucknow, Vishakhapatnam and Gwalior, during the next few years. New Delhi, Calcutta, Hyderabad, Chennai, Nagpur and Agartala already have Doppler weather radars.”