The Kashmir chapter of the Indian Meteorological Society (IMS) was launched Saturday at the University of Kashmir, a statement issued here by the IMS said.

The General Body Meeting (GBM) of the members of the Society in J&K elected the office bearers and Executive Council of the Kashmir Chapter for 2017-19. Prof. Shakil Ahmad Romshoo, Head, Dept. of Earth Sciences was elected as the Chairman and  Sonam Lotus, Director, IMD (Srinagar) was elected the Secretary of the Kashmir chapter of the Society.

The General Body also elected Joint Secretary and Treasurer. Additionally, the General Body also elected Executive Council comprising of 9 members of the society. The society has more than 3500 Life members all over the country drawn from a large number of scientific departments, government, academic and research institutions.

The IMS is celebrating its Diamond Jubilee year in 2017. In his speech, Prof. Romshoo said that keeping in view the relevance and benefits of the meteorology to every human activity, there is need to reach out to the public and media in order to derive maximum benefits from the meteorological information.

Being a mountainous state, the provision of timely and accurate meteorological information is imperative for improving operations in aviation, agriculture, horticulture, tourism, communication, transport, and hydro-meteorological disaster management, said Prof. Romshoo.

On the occasion, Sonam Lotus said that with the advancement in the field of satellite meteorology and simulation modeling, the weather forecasting has improved significantly and there is need for collaboration among the scientists, government and civil society to optimize the benefits of weather and climate information to the society.

The General Body decided to create awareness of climate and weather among common people particularly the school children by organizing lectures, symposia, discussions etc.  The society felt that awareness among government and society is necessary for ensuring more effective use of weather and seasonal forecast information to mitigate some of the adverse consequences of the weather in the state. The Society shall foster academic and public engagement aimed at improving understanding and prediction of weather and climate science in the topographically complex mountainous Kashmir with particular attention to issues meriting priority attention of the society.

Guest