A group of students was given a tour of the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Alipore on Thursday as the Met office celebrated World Meteorology Day.
Weather scientists gave demonstrations of different surface instruments that measure temperature, humidity and rainfall. Senior officials of the India Meteorology Department, Kolkata, told the students about the legacy of the RMC observatory in Alipore.
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Some snippets from the past were later shared as a press release.
- The India Meteorological Department came into being in 1875. The Central Observatory at Alipore was established in 1877.
- In 1905, the IMD headquarter was shifted from Calcutta to Shimla and later to Pune in 1928. Finally, the headquarter was shifted to New Delhi in 1944.
- On April 1, 1945, the Regional Meteorological Centre in Calcutta (Kolkata) came into existence inside the Alipore Observatory complex.
- Now, the RMC, Kolkata is the principal government agency and the nodal office of the IMD in eastern India and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, in meteorology and allied subjects.
The job of the RMC, Kolkata includes:
- Taking meteorological observations and providing forecast for sectors such as agriculture, shipping and aviation.
- Warning against severe weather phenomena like cyclones.