Centre says IMD issued severe weather warnings for Kerala, refutes charges of 'lapses' in forecast

New Delhi: The central government on Monday said that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued necessary severe weather warnings for rains in Kerala rains in August, refuting the charge that there were lapses on its part. IMD representatives apprised state authorities about the strong monsoon conditions with heavy rainfall activity at a meeting convened by Chief Minister Pinayari Vijayan on 9 August, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). “Also, the additional chief secretary (revenue and disaster management) was briefed orally over the phone on all occasions. Member Secretary, SDMA, (State Disaster Management Authority) was briefed on 10 August. District collectors of Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram were briefed on 14 August. Briefings were sent to the media as well during this period,” the statement added. [caption id=“attachment_5046431” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A file image of flood affected areas in Kerala. PTI[/caption] The MoES said the IMD had issued all necessary severe weather warnings for Kerala through its office in Thiruvananthapuram, and an extended forecast range was issued two weeks in advance. On 30 August, the chief minister in the state Assembly had said there were “lapses” on the part of the IMD’s rain forecast during this period. The IMD had forecast an estimated 98.5 mm rain in the state between 9 and 15 August, but Kerala received was 352.2 mm of rainfall, Vijayan said, adding that the purpose was not to find fault with anyone. Weather forecasts for five days and outlook for the subsequent two days, which also include heavy rainfall warning and wind warning, were sent through an email to the chief secretary, additional chief secretary (revenue and disaster management), SDMA, Indian Navy, special marine enforcement as well as the print and electronic media, the statement added. Short- and medium-range forecasts (five days in advance) were also issued by the IMD unit in Thiruvananthapuram, it said. The ministry said orange alerts, which mean authorities should prepare for action, were issued with effect from 6 August and applicable from 8 August, while a red alert, which means authorities need to start taking necessary action, was issued with effect from 9 August. “Further, for showing the severity of rainfall intensity expected, heavy (7-11 centimetres in 24 hours) to very heavy (12-20 centimetres in 24 hours) rainfall warning for Kerala was issued with effect from 10 August for 14 August, with orange alerts for Idukki and Alappuzha and red alert for Wayanad district… On 11 August, a warning for heavy to very heavy rainfall was extended for 15 August, with an orange alert for Idukki and Wayanad districts,” the statement said. On 14 August again, a warning for heavy to very heavy rainfall was issued for that day and a day later, with red alerts and orange alerts for most of the districts, MoES said. On 15 August, a warning for extremely heavy rainfall was issued for Kerala, with red alerts for all districts for 16 August and red for seven districts and orange for the remaining seven districts for 17 August. “It may be noted that the red alert is the highest alert for issuing heavy rainfall warning, and no other alerting criteria than this is adopted by the IMD. The weather bulletins issued from the Delhi office also carried orange and red warnings for Kerala about two to three days in advance of the event, advising the disaster managers to be alert and initiate action respectively,” the IMD said.