The following is the text of the Statement by the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal at the 16th World Meteorological Congress of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) at Geneva today:
“Distinguished President and Secretary-General of WMO, distinguished Heads of State and Government, distinguished representatives of Member-States and representatives from International Organisations, Ladies and Gentlemen,On behalf of the Indian delegation, I wish to express my appreciation and gratitude to WMO for the excellent arrangements made for the Sixteenth Congress. Mr. President, I wish to emphasize that the co-operation of India towards the successful outcome of WMO’s objectives and programmes remains unstinted.
India looks forward to the deliberations on the Report of the High-Level Task-Force on the Global Framework for climate Services (GFCS) and a productive outcome in terms of strengthening and synergizing existing capabilities, keeping in view the inter-governmental agreement on data-sharing and the national policies of all States concerned. In order to be effective, the Framework’s establishment, operation and management must be undertaken by the States themselves. To this end, the States are required to take appropriate steps for the establishment of GFCS and its maintenance, provision of experts and capacity-building.
India is prepared to contribute towards the establishment of this important framework through strengthening of its infrastructure in the region. Substantive enhancement has been achieved through enhancement of state-of-art observing systems through comprehensive modernization program of the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS) of the country. India is establishing observation network through various existing platforms like South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation(SAARC), Bay of Bengal Initiative for Muti-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES), etc. Indian Ocean Global Observation System (IOGOOS) has already being implemented along with the global community. All these data are being organized in a climate data base and is available to the scientific community.
We need to place major emphasis on the generation of improved seasonal and decadal forecasts along with long- term projections of climate change, extreme climate and their impact on various socio-economic sectors like water resources, agriculture, health, ecosystems and coastal areas in the region. As a result of WMO resolution on setting up of Institute for tropical meteorology in its 3rd Congress during April 1959, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology was established in 1962. This is a world class research centre today with state-of-art infrastructure and mentoring a dedicated Centre for Climate Change Research. India has taken lead in establishment of South Asian Climate Outlook Forum (SASCOF) under the aegis of WMO for jointly developing and providing long range monsoon forecast. India is providing advisories and support to the ESCAP panel member countries in the field of cyclone and Tsunami warnings. Recently India has set up a joint Indo-African fund and is initiating a program on agro advisory services in Africa which includes transfer of knowhow for establishment of such a system. I may mention that in India, 2 million farmers are utilising weather service which has helped them improve agricultural practices.
India has established its capabilities in the field of designing and development of sensors along with launching of satellites with optimal utilization of the data for the purpose of weather monitoring and forecasts as well as in the field of disaster management. These include various products generated by Indian Satellite—[INSAT], India’s Ocean satellite—[OCEANSAT], India’s Weather Satellite with ARgos and ALtika –[SARAL], and the Indian-French satellite –[Megha-Tropiques]. The satellite based Indian Meteorological Data Casting System—[IMETCAST] is being established for dissemination of various meteorological data operated by Indian satellites. Observations from space-based LIDARs and RADARs are being planned in collaboration with other countries for improved prediction of the tropical ocean generated weather systems.
Recognizing the complexity and the challenges faced by the world meteorological community in providing monsoon forecasts for the tropical region, my Government has very recently launched a major programme called the Monsoon Mission with focussed objective to achieve forecasts in the seasonal, intra-seasonal and medium range scales. The mission will support cutting edge research by national and international research groups along with strengthening of observational programs that will result in better understanding of the various physical processes associated with the tropical monsoon.
Mr. President, having noted the four key areas of disaster management, water resources, agriculture and health in which GFCS is urgently required to act, we offer to share our experience and expertise with other States through this Framework as a manifestation of our commitment to GFCS. India supports the establishment of an Intergovernmental Board for Climate Services that would report to the WMO Congress and undertake the full and sustained implementation of GFCS. India pledges to support GFCS Secretariat with a grant of US $ 1,25,000.
In conclusion, Mr. President, we reiterate our confidence in your able chairmanship in brining the deliberations on the GFCS and the recommendations of the Report of the High-Level Taskforce to a successful conclusion. To this end, we reiterate our commitment to working with other delegations for realising the evolution of this framework from its declaratory to the implementation phase.