Mumbai: The BMC has finally completed the installation of 60 additional automatic weather stations (AWS) throughout the city, taking the number of stations to 120. These stations will collect information on rainfall, temperature, humidity and the speed and direction of wind. This collated data will be available on the civic disaster management portal and will be updated every 15 minutes. Thus, it will help residents to plan their activities accordingly from this monsoon. Earlier, the city had 60 AWS installed at civic ward offices or at fire brigade stations. These weather stations are connected to a central server located at the Worli data centre of the BMC. To obtain an accurate local date of rainfall, the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) recommended installation of 97 additional AWS throughout the city.
However, due to cost and security issues, the civic authority decided to install only 60. The installation work started at locations such as schools, residential societies, hospitals, etc. Around 43 AWS were installed by December 2023, while the remaining 17 were set up in the past three months. The installation cost of each AWS is up to Rs7 lakh.
The contractor will also have to maintain the AWS as well as the disaster management portal for three years, said the civic sources. Some of the places where the AWS have been installed are the municipal school on Gokhale Road at Dadar (West), Khar Danda pumping station, Versova in Andheri (West) and Pratiksha Nagar school in Jogeshwari (West). The stations will update the citizens with micro-level information. The rainfall data collected through AWS will also help the BMC to send warnings to people besides strategically preparing and implementing disaster plans during heavy rainfall. The gathered information will be updated on dm.mcgm.gov.in.
