Weather surveillance: Japan to provide Rs 1.6 billion for renewing radar system in Karachi

The government of Japan will replace the weather surveillance radar in Karachi with a grant of 1.95 billion Yen (approx 1.6 billion PKR). Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan Hiroshi Inomata signed and exchanged notes with Muhammad Saleem Sethi, Secretary of Economic Affairs Division (EAD) here on Wednesday. A grant agreement on the details of implementation of the project was also signed between Mitsuyoshi Kawasaki, Chief Representative of Jica and Syed Mujtaba Hussain, Joint Secretary of EAD.
Four (Islamabad, Karachi, Dera Ismail Khan and Rahimyar Khan), out of seven meteorological radar systems in Pakistan, were established under the grant aid of Japan. These four radars observe the precipitation of about 80 percent of the country. Among them, the existing Karachi radar system established in 1991 has played an important role in monitoring meteorological phenomena in the southern area and tropical cyclones which are formed over the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.
The new radar will have a 450km radius of information processing for consumption of the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD). This will help the PMD to monitor the movement and development of severe weather systems to prepare more accurate and timely weather forecast and warning coastal areas in Sindh and Balochistan. Forecast for international shipping and aircrafts' traffic will also be improved. The Doppler mode is essential in achieving more accurate forecasting and longer forecast prediction times.
This Project is the first priority of the National Multi Hazard Early Warning System Plan which was a part of the National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) formulated through Japan's assistance in 2012. In accordance with the NDMP, Japan has been extending various assistances such as replacement of the meteorological radar in Islamabad and installation of the Flood Forecasting System in collaboration with Unesco.
The Project agreed on Wednesday is expected to have synergies with these on-going and completed projects assisted by Japan. At the signing ceremony, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, H E Hiroshi Inomata expressed his hope that the project contributed to protecting more lives and properties from future natural disasters. He also said, "Japan will continue to work together with Pakistan to make this country disaster-resilient, making good use of experience and expertise Japan has gained from many disasters in the past."