PARLIAMENT QUESTION: INDIGENIOUS WARNING SYSTEMS

The Ministry of Earth Sciences, through the National Centre for Seismology (NCS), monitors earthquakes 24 × 7 via the National Seismological Network of 174 observatories and is developing a pilot Early‑Earthquake‑Warning (EEW) system. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) provides impact‑based early warnings for meteorological disasters, sharing forecasts with agencies such as the Ministry of Home Affairs, NDMA, state disaster authorities and the media. IMD’s observational network includes 50 Doppler Weather Radars, 1,008 Automatic Weather Stations and 6,885 rain‑gauge stations, and it runs a suite of numerical weather‑prediction models (GFS, BFS, WRF, HRRR, EWRF, AI models, MME) for severe‑weather warnings, especially in the Himalayas. The Mitigation Project of Lightning Safety (MPLS), a pilot under NDMA with IMD as technical partner, focuses on community risk assessment, lightning early‑warning systems, capacity building and research. Additionally, the DAMINI mobile app, supporting 17 regional languages, delivers location‑specific lightning alerts and safety advisories.