The government is going to construct two new modern radar towers in the country.
The two new towers will be constructed in order to forecast accurately the possible disaster risks and minimise loss and damage by taking proper countermeasures.
Under the project ‘Development of Dhaka and Rangpur Weather Radar’ with the help of Japan, these two radars will be constructed in Dhaka and Rangpur.
At present, there are five meteorological radar systems in the country in Dhaka, Cox’s Bazar, Khepupara, Moulvibazar, and Rangpur. Of these, the existing Dhaka and Rangpur meteorological radar systems have aged nearly 20 years since their inception and their longevity is going to expire.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) technicians kept the radar system still operational with continuous maintenance, repair, and overhaul. But it cannot fully perform its operation due to reduction in transmission power.
The information was revealed at the 11th meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Defence held at the Parliament House recently.
The Meteorological Department during the meeting told that the Japanese government's development agency JICA is providing grant assistance for the installation of the radar system. A grant agreement of Tk 18,600 lakh has been signed between the JICA and the Economic Relations Department (ERD) on June 24, 2015 and the project titled 'Development of Dhaka and Rangpur Weather Radar' was approved by the ECNEC.
An agreement was signed in Japan on February 21, 2020 between the successful tenderer and the Meteorological Department for the installation of these two radars. Following this, the construction of the radar tower was scheduled to start on April 5 through a ‘kick-off meeting’ between the Japanese consultant and contractor and the Meteorological Department. But due to the Coronavirus outbreak, it was not possible to start the work.
The meteorological radar observation network plays an important role, which is important to monitor meteorological phenomena occurring around the country, and the borders shared with neighboring countries.
