Kathmandu, October 25
At a time when natural disasters are increasing, Nepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology is struggling with shortages of technology, human resources and other essential resources.
The department, which is itself grappling with various policy and technical problems, has also been unable to provide timely and accurate location-specific information to residents in areas at potential risk.
A white paper published by the department, outlining its responsibilities, service coverage and available resources, states that shortages of technology, manpower and resources have created serious challenges in service delivery.
According to the document, geographical difficulties, inadequate modern technology, a lack of skilled personnel and insufficient financial resources have created major obstacles to improving weather forecasting and disaster early warning systems.
Geographical complexity remains a major challenge to expanding, modernising and strengthening weather stations in the country’s high hills, Himalayan and remote regions, as well as ensuring their regular monitoring and maintenance. The department also lacks adequate resources and technical personnel to carry out these tasks.
The department has been unable to sufficiently develop modern infrastructure for weather observation, forecasting, high-performance computing (HPC) and numerical weather prediction systems. It has also reported a shortage of technology required for monitoring high Himalayan areas and providing immediate weather forecasts, known as nowcasting.
The regular operation and maintenance of Nepal’s three weather radars have also become a major challenge. As weather radars are highly sensitive instruments, expensive spare parts must be imported from abroad. A lack of reliable electricity supply means generators have to be operated, resulting in high diesel consumption. Damage caused by lightning also forces the department to incur substantial repair costs.
The department currently has advanced weather radars in Surkhet, Palpa and Udayapur. It purchased the radars from US-based Enterprise Electronics Corporation (EEC) at a cost of Rs 200 million each to collect real-time weather data. The radars were installed at Ratanangla in Surkhet, Karnali Province; Ribdikot in Palpa, Lumbini Province; and Chitredanda in Udayapur, Koshi Province, to cover the country’s geographical area.
However, the radar in Surkhet has remained out of operation for years after being damaged by lightning. Department officials said preparations were underway to replace the damaged equipment and bring it back into operation this year.
The department’s white paper identifies the regular operation, maintenance and long-term sustainability of these advanced weather radars as major challenges. If any of the radars breaks down, spare parts must be imported from the United States, and technicians from the country must also be brought in for installation or repairs.
The department states in its white paper: “It is difficult to manage the regular operation of radars, the supply of expensive spare parts and specialised technical services through limited annual budgets. Therefore, international-standard multi-year maintenance agreements, assured financial resources and the development of domestic technical capacity are necessary.”
The department has also reported an insufficient number of skilled technical personnel required for weather forecasting, climate analysis and related work.
It is also facing a shortage of adequately equipped laboratories for instrument calibration and regular maintenance.
According to the department, adequate mechanisms have not been developed to deliver timely, impact-based early warnings to communities at risk from extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall, floods and landslides.
The department faced criticism recently for failing to deliver timely warnings during the devastating floods in the Bhotekoshi–Trishuli and Budhigandaki rivers.
At around 5 am on October 11, resident Sherap Gurung went live on Facebook to report flooding in the Budhigandaki River. Some people saved their lives based on this initial information. However, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology issued its warning only after 6 am.
Limited scientific research and studies
The department has also been unable to conduct sufficient research into, or make practical use of, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies for weather forecasting.
Modern equipment and skilled personnel required for forecasting weather along mountain aviation routes and at Himalayan airports are also limited. In addition, comprehensive scientific studies and research on the effects of climate change and mountain weather systems, tailored to Nepal’s unique geographical conditions, remain inadequate.
The department has outlined 22 problems and challenges in its white paper. It says policy priorities must be established and a roadmap developed to address these issues and transform the department into a modern, scientific and technology-oriented national provider of weather and climate services.
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