Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is all set to start issuing forecast for potential malaria prone areas in the country. The forecast is expected to help people take necessary precautions ahead of the outbreak of the vector-borne disease.
Speaking to OTV, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director general of IMD, said that weather has a lot of impact on health and Malaria is one of the diseases which is related to the weather conditions. "It has been observed that atmospheric temperature has a major bearing on the spread of Malaria. So, if we can take a calculated decision on the threshold window of temperature for Malaria, we can predict the time when there will be an outbreak of the disease," he said.
He further said that Malaria mostly spreads when the maximum temperature is between 33 and 39 degree Celsius and the minimum temperature hovers around 14 and 19 degree Celsius.
The recent modelling and numerical developments at the centre will help making temperature forecast based on the global model, he said adding, "On an experimental basis, we have started making forecast if the environmental conditions are favourable, or not, for a potential malaria outbreak. The nation-wide data would be released on Thursdays."
Earlier, while delivering a lecture on 'recent advancements in weather and climate predictions', organised by the Indian Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Earth Sciences secretary M Rajeevan had said that India will ramp up its high performance computing (HPC) facility from the existing capacity of 10 petaflops to 40 petaflops, a step that will significantly help in improving weather predictions.
Currently, India is only next to the US, the UK and Japan in HPC.
This apart, a report released by the Ministry of Earth Sciences last week said nearly Rs 990 crore spent on the National Monsoon Mission and HPC had yielded dividends 50 times the investment made, reported PTI.