The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is a Government agency under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), serving as the principal national authority for meteorological observations, weather forecasting, and seismology. It was formally established on January 15, 1875, following catastrophic events like the Great Calcutta Cyclone of 1864 and the famines caused by monsoon failures in 1866 and 1873. The creation of the IMD, with Henry Francis Blanford as its first Meteorological Reporter, solved the problem of organizing weather data collection under a single central authority.
The IMD's mechanism involves undertaking observations, communications, and forecasting from its headquarters in New Delhi and hundreds of stations, including those in Antarctica. It utilizes India's satellite systems, such as the IRS series and INSAT series, for real-time weather monitoring. A key function is providing warnings against severe weather like tropical cyclones, heat waves, and heavy rains, which is a statutory responsibility under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
Internationally, the IMD is one of the six Regional Specialised Meteorological Centres (RSMC) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). This designation gives it the responsibility for forecasting, naming, and distributing warnings for tropical cyclones in the Northern Indian Ocean region. While the institution itself has not been replaced, its forecasting models are continually updated, such as the use of the Monsoon Mission Coupled Forecast System (MMCFS) to monitor phenomena like El Niño, which is expected to strengthen during the monsoon season. The IMD is currently celebrating its 150th anniversary from January 15, 2024, to January 15, 2025.