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The beginnings of meteorology in India can be traced to ancient times. India is fortunate to have some of the oldest meteorological observatories of the world. The British East India Company established several such stations, for example, those at Calcutta in 1785 and Madras (now Chennai) in 1796 for studying the weather and climate of India. The Asiatic Society of Bengal founded in 1784 at Calcutta, and in 1804 at Bombay (now Mumbai), promoted scientific studies in meteorology in India.
More About IMD
- In the year 1875, the Government of India established the India Meteorological Department, bringing all meteorological work in the country under a central authority.
- From a modest beginning in 1875, IMD has progressively expanded its infrastructure for meteorological observations, communications, forecasting and weather services and it has achieved a parallel scientific growth.
- India was the first developing country in the world to have its own geostationary satellite, INSAT, for continuous weather monitoring of this part of the globe and particularly for cyclone warning.
- IMD is under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
- The Director General of Meteorology is the Head of the India Meteorological Department, with headquarters at New Delhi. For the convenience of administrative and technical control, there are 6 Regional Meteorological Centres, each under a Deputy Director General with headquarters at Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi, Calcutta, Nagpur and Guwahati.
- In addition, there are separate Divisions to deal with specialised subjects. They are:
. Agricultural Meteorology
. Civil Aviation
. Climatology
. Hydrometeorology
. Instrumentation
. Meteorological Telecommunication
. Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre
. Positional Astronomy
. Satellite Meteorology
. Seismology
. Training
Mandate of IMD
- To take meteorological observations and to provide current and forecast meteorological information for optimum operation of weather-sensitive activities like agriculture, irrigation, shipping, aviation, offshore oil explorations, etc.
- To warn against severe weather phenomena like tropical cyclones, norwesters, dust storms, heavy rains and snow, cold and heat waves, etc., which causes destruction of life and property.
- To provide meteorological statistics required for agriculture, water resource management, industries, oil exploration and other nation-building activities.
- To conduct and promote research in meteorology and allied disciplines.
