Authorities must consider weather conditions when planning election schedule: IMD chief

Authorities should consider weather and climate conditions when planning massive exercises like “one nation, one election”, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, the chief of the India Meteorological Department, told PTI on Saturday.

The comments come ahead of the Lok Sabha elections that are scheduled to be held in seven phases between April 19 and June 1. The Election Commission consulted the Meteorological Department before announcing the poll schedule, Mohapatra told the news agency.

“We provided, at the initial stage, the climatological information for March, April, May, and June for different parts of the country so that they [poll body] can make a judicious decision on which part and at what time they should conduct the elections,” he said.

Four to eight heatwave days are expected in different parts of the country in April against a normal of one to three days, Mohapatra said. Ten to 20 days of heatwave are expected against a normal of four to eight days in the entire April-June period, he said.

The weather department, which is also relying on artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhance weather forecasts, said that Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Maharashtra, Vidarbha, Marathwada, Bihar and Jharkhand will see more heatwave days.

Some places may record over 20 days of heatwave, Mohapatra said.

“If people are...

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