Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr Jitendra Singh, on Monday (November 2) inaugurated a new Seismological Observatory in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, established by the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) under the Ministry of Earth Sciences at the District Employment and Counselling Centre in Kishtwar.

Source: PIB via India Education Diary

The observatory is India's 183rd seismological station and is equipped with state-of-the-art digital seismic equipment. It will transmit data in real time to the 24x7 Earthquake Monitoring Centre of the NCS in New Delhi. With it, Jammu and Kashmir now has four seismological observatories — at Jammu, Srinagar, Udhampur and Kishtwar.

Source: NationPress

Kishtwar lies in a high seismic zone in the Himalayan belt and is vulnerable to earthquakes, landslides and extreme weather. Dr Singh said the observatory would continuously monitor earthquake activity in the region, build a better understanding of its seismic hazards, and help the district administration and rescue teams respond more effectively, besides supporting safer infrastructure planning.

Source: PIB via India Education Diary

The Minister said weather monitoring in the region has expanded sharply since 2014: Doppler Weather Radars have gone from none to four installed, with four more being installed — at Doda, Kishtwar, Anantnag and Baramulla, due in 2027 — Automatic Weather Stations from three to 12, and Rain Gauge Stations from nine to 15 across the five districts of the constituency. Additional installations were brought in after last year's Chasoti cloudburst tragedy.

Source: PIB via India Education Diary

Those present included Leader of Opposition and MLA Sunil Sharma, Kishtwar MLA Shagun Parihar, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr Srinivasa Kumar, NCS Director Dr G. Suresh, Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Sharma and SSP Sunny Gupta. Weather forecasts and agromet advisories are now disseminated at Panchayat level across all Panchayats in the five districts, the Minister said.

Source: NationPress

"Information is important, but following the information is equally important," Dr Singh said, urging citizens to cooperate with the administration during weather alerts and advisories, and calling for scientific, evidence-based communication to counter unverified and alarmist information.