The Paradip Doppler radar station is of paramount importance as this region is prone to natural calamities like cyclone, storm and tidal surge but its commissioning got delayed after the Defence ministry disapproved the system with China-made gadgets from national security point of view.
"The matter has been taken up by the Union ministry of Earth Science after Odisha government shot off a series of letters for expeditious commissioning of the project. The ministry of Defence has agreed in principle for the launch of the project," state director of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Sarat Chandra Sahu said today.
"The Chinese system has been rejected. Now the Paradip station would have an improvised German-made Doppler radar," Sahu said.
"The China-made doppler radar system is still in our possession. After Defence ministry directed us not to install the China-made set, it has not been put to use. The building and other infrastructures are ready for the launch of the state-of-the-art weather station. Once the German-made system is provided to us, the station would get operational without any further delay," he informed.
Security concerns were raised by the Union Defence ministry. It was feared that the in-built chips in the radar might help pass on vital information to the manufacturing country, said an official.
The obsolete analogue radar installed at the Paradip weather station for the weather forecast has turned defunct even as harried meteorology personnel are now entirely dependent on the weathermen at Vishakhapatnam and Kolkata for forecast update, Sahu said.
"In recent months, the weather, storm, low pressure and cyclone warning from the Paradip radar station is way off the target. Prediction is often going wrong," alleged Narayan Haldar, president, traditional marine fish workers