Kharghar AWS completes six months of operation

The IMD took the initiative after the mishap in Kharghar when 14 people lost their lives due to heatstroke, while attending a political rally in April, 2023.

Dark clouds gathered over Kharghar in Navi Mumbai. (Express photo by Narendra Vaskar/File)

The Automatic Weather Station (AWS) installed by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) in July 2023 to monitor local temperature and weather at the satellite district of Kharghar in Navi Mumbai has completed six months of operation.

The IMD took the initiative after the mishap in Kharghar when 14 people lost their lives due to heatstroke, while attending a political rally in April, 2023.

According to IMD officials, the AWS was installed on July 27, 2023 within the premises of the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG) on a 10 square metre space. These AWS records the daily maximum and minimum temperatures along with the amount of rainfall.

Story continues below this ad

Last year, when the Kharghar incident took place in April 2023, the authorities were unable to give out a heatwave alert since there was no local AWS.

“Over the past six months, we have been recording the maximum and minimum temperatures in this station, however, we will have to record 10 years of data to understand the overall weather pattern,” said an official.

At present, Mumbai has two weather stations at Colaba and Santacruz. In Thane there is no AWS, while in Alibag, Dahanu there’s one station each.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram