Following adverse weather, four radars to be set up in J&K

Union Science Minister Jitendra Singh on Thursday (September 4, 2025) said that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) would be installing four additional radars under Mission Mausam in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir for more accurate weather forecasts and early warnings. Well-positioned radars are useful in improving the lead time in warning of sudden changes in weather that can bring intense rainfall.

Rain, floods across India: Follow highlights on September 4, 2025

There are already three radars operational in the two Union Territories. No details on the precise locations or a timeline for setting up the radars has been announced.

The decision followed the Minister’s meeting involving officials of the Ministry of Earth Science, the IMD’s parent body, the Divisional Commissioner of Jammu, and the District Collectors of Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Kathua, and Udhampur districts of J&K via video conference, to take stock of the relief and rehabilitation measures being undertaken in the wake of unprecedented rainfall, cloudbursts, and flash floods in the region. Dr. Singh is also the Lok Sabha MP fom Udhampur, Jammu. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee to assess the damage and ensure coordinated assistance in the region, Dr. Singh said.

Also Read | Flood alert in J&K’s Srinagar after Jhelum overflows in Budgam; evacuation advisory issued

Several areas in Budgam district of J&K were inundated as water from the Jhelum river overflowed, prompting authorities in Srinagar district to issue an advisory for the evacuation of people from vulnerable, low-lying areas. Several relief camps have been set up.

The three monsoon months so far have seen ‘above normal’ rainfall, in line with what the IMD had forecast in May. Rain from June 1 to August 31 was 6% above the normal 70 cm that’s usual for the three months. Northwest India, comprising Uttarakhand, most parts of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu, Kashmir, Rajasthan, and Delhi saw 26% more rain than what’s typical for these three months.

The extremely active monsoon in northern India, which saw large-scale destruction of lives and property in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, and Uttarakahand, was due to a confluence of several western disturbances (storms that travel to India from the Mediterranean), and storms from the Bay of Bengal moving northwards, leading to several episodes of intense rain, M. Mohapatra, Director General, IMD, had said in a press briefing on Sunday. “This is likely to prevail during September too…since 1980 we have noticed an increasing trend in the rainfall India receives during September,” the IMD’s chief told The Hindu.