KARACHI: Met Office contradicts the baseless news appeared in media about non-operation of weather radars especially in Islamabad and Karachi. According to the Met Office spokesman, there are seven weather radars in Pakistan installed at Islamabad, Mangla, Sialkot, Lahore, D. I. Khan, Rahim Yar Khan and Karachi. All of them have been in operation since the onset of pre-monsoon rains in June. The oldest one is at Sialkot which was installed in 1978 but still working. The maximum age of weather radars is ten years but engineering staff of Met office has maintained their operation despite the old age.

Rapid developments in radar technology have introduced the added advantages in weather products. No doubt, there is a dire need to replace these radars with modern technology to cope with the challenges of the changing climate. Japanese Government has agreed to install two new radars at Islamabad and Karachi. At the first step, Islamabad Radar is being replaced by a Doppler radar in two years. Afterward, similar radar will be placed in Karachi to monitor the weather phenomena such as Tropical Cyclones, Storm Surges as well as Tsunami in the Arabian Sea. Negotiations to install four new radars at Mangla, Sialkot, Lahore and Gawadar are in progress with World Bank.—PR