File picture of a jawan standing guard in front of the dish antenna at the Isro station near Byalalu on the outskirts of Bangalore

Guwahati; Dec. 18: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has come forward to run the automatic weather stations set up by Assam Science Technology and Environment Council in the state.

In support of the science and technology department of the state government and technical support to Isro, in 2010 the council set up 14 stations in different parts of the state to collect weather information regularly.

Sources said Rs 60 lakh was spent to set up the weather stations. They were set up at Rangiya College, North Guwahati College, ASTEC building, Majuli College, Sadiya Higher Secondary School, Duliajan College, Dhemaji College, Jonai Higher Secondary School, SS College at Hailakandi, Hamren Higher Secondary School and Regional Science Centre in Guwahati, among others.

However, the project received a blow because of lack of personnel with required technical expertise to run and monitor these stations. Except the one at the Regional Science Centre, all weather stations have become dysfunctional.

“Isro has now taken up the task of repairing and running the weather stations. The organisation has been working to restore the stations for three months. Till now they have restored around five stations,” said Jaideep Baruah, head of the environment division of the council.

The council planned to make a database of the weather reports from the grassroots level so that it would help analyse changes in climate and other relevant aspects.

Sources said after a year, various technical snags appeared in the weather stations. Besides, as there was no proper manpower to maintain the stations, they became dysfunctional.

“Solar panels of the weather stations were stolen and various technical snags appeared in them because of lack of technically efficient people to look after the stations,” said a source.

Baruah said besides Assam, Isro has also taken up the task of running all weather stations in the Northeast. He said as soon as all the stations are restored and they start sending reports, Isro will launch a dedicated website to make all weather reports public. In the website, people will be able to see regular weather updates from across the state.