Berhampur: The doppler weather radar, which will provide advance warning about cyclones and other natural calamities, at Gopalpur-on-Sea is ready and would formally inaugurated during third week of February.

It costs Rs 22 crore and weights about 16 tonnes. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Bangalore has designed the radar, and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has manufactured it. The state government has provided three acres adjoining the Pakanati High School at Gopalpur for the purpose, official sources said.

"The radar will help the meteorological centre to predict cyclones, tornadoes, hailstorms, lightning and cloudbursts accurately. Its antenna rotates round-the-clock at various elevations on frequent interval under a cover of 16-metre diameter. The radar would track down the condition of sea at a distance of around 500km from the seashore. It would track the clouds up to a range of 500km and could also track thunderstorm and lightning.

The centre can accurately predict the exact rainfall, thunderstorm and cyclone, said its in-charge Uma Shankar Das.

The decision to install the radar at Gopalpur has been taken following the recommendation of a high-level team of Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology, which conducted a survey in Puri and Gopalpur after the super cyclone in 1999, sources said. Construction for the centre had started at Gopalpur in 2003. The radar was finally installed last year.

"But, the radar was not functioning because of some technical problem. It became operational only after a seven-member team, including four scientists from ISRO and BHEL, two from the IMD and one from Calcutta, had recently visited Gopalpur to check the ancillary facilities. The team members updated the computer software of the radar," said Das.