Volume 3
Articles

Science, State and Meteorology in India

PDF
  • Biswanath Dash
Biswanath Dash
Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Science, BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad

Published 2023-09-02

Keywords

  • meteorology, Science and State, Cyclone Warning Service

How to Cite

Dash, B. (2023). Science, State and Meteorology in India. DIALOGUE: Science, Scientists and Society, 3, 1–20. Retrieved from https://dialogue.ias.ac.in/index.php/dialogue/article/view/41

Abstract

Meteorology as a science developed from the middle of the nineteenth century in India in the government’s cradle. This, in turn, has shaped its evolution, making public service its key focus and receiving government patronage in return. Examining this relationship through the evolution of cyclone warning services of India Meteorological Department (IMD), this paper argues that historically such meteorological service has developed without adequate emphasis on theoretical advancement inhibiting the growth of the particular science. Meteorology’s entanglement with the state has resulted in its servicing of state’s institutions rather than the society at large and creating a bureaucratic environment with poor research tradition both during colonial and in the post-Independence period. This association has ensured that there is no scope for the public’s assessment of meteorological service even though it remains predominantly public-funded.

PDF

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

  1. Piddington, H. 1848. The Sailor’s Horn Book for the Laws of Storms: Being a Practical Exposition for the Theory of Laws of Storms, and Its Uses to Mariners in All Parts of the World, shewn by Transparent Storm Cards and Useful Lessons, John Wiley: New York.
  2. Monmonier,Mark. 1999. Air Apparent, University of Chicago Press.
  3. Redfield, W. C. 1842 Whirlwind and Storms: with replies to objections and strictures of Dr Hare JS Redfield. Clinton Hall: New York.
  4. Espy, J. P. 1841 Philosophy of Storms, Charles C Little and James Brown: Boston
  5. Dove, H. W. 1862 The Law of Storms, Translated by R H Scott, Longman Green: London
  6. Walker, J. M. 2011 History of the Meteorological Office. CUP: New York.
  7. Sarma, S. A. K. 1997 Henry Piddington (1797-1858): A bicentennial tribute. 52(6): 187-192
  8. Piddington, H. 1860. Sailor’s Horn-Book for the Law of Storms, Williams and Norgate: London.
  9. Anderson,Katharine. 2000. Predicting the Weather, University of Chicago Press.
  10. Edward, P. N. 2006 Meteorology as Infrastructural Globalism. History of Science Society. 21(1): 229-250
  11. Resnik, D. B. 2008. Freedom of Speech in Government Science. Issues in Science and Technology 24 (2)
  12. Manning, T. G. 1967 Government in Science. University of Kentucky Press.
  13. Jasanoff, S. 1990 The Fifth Branch Harvard University Press: London and Massachusetts
  14. Doel, Ronald E. 2003. Constituting thePost War Earth Sciences: The Military influence on the Environmental science inthe USA after 1945, Social Studies ofScience, 33 (5): 635-66.
  15. Randall, S. 2010. ‘Weather profits:weather derivatives and the commercialization of meteorology’, Social Studies of Science, 40 (5):705-730. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312710378448
  16. Whitehead, M. 2009. State, Science and the Skies. Willey Blackwell: Sussex.
  17. Carlsson-Hyslop, A. E. 2010 An anatomy of Storm Surge Institute at Liverpool Tidal Institute 1919-1959: Forecasting, Practices of Calculation and Patronage. PhD thesis submitted to University of Manchester
  18. Reed, R. J. 1977 Bjerknes Memorial Lecture. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. 58: 390-399
  19. Lynch, P. 2002 Weather Forecasting From Woolly Art to Solid Science, in R. P. Pearce (Ed.) Meteorology at the Millennium, International Geophysics Series, Academy Press, 83:106-119
  20. Cox, J. D. 2002 Storm Watchers the turbulent history of weather prediction from Franklin Kite to El Nino. John Wiley and Sons
  21. IMD 2000 125 Years of Service to the nation 1875-2000, Director General of Meteorology, New Delhi, Office of Additional Director General of Meteorology (Research): Pune (accessed on 21st Nov. 2019) http://www.imdpune.gov.in/Links/125%20years%20of%20service%20to%20the%20%20nation.pdf
  22. Kochhar, R. K. 1991 Science as a tool in British India Economic and Political Weekly 26(33): 1927-33
  23. Sikka, D. R. 2011 The Role of India Meteorological Department, 1875-1947, in U. D. Gupta, (eds.) History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization. Vol. XV, Part 4. Sanat Printers: New Delhi.
  24. IMD 1976 Hundred Years of Weather Service 1875-1975 India Meteorological Department, Government of India, Director General of Observatories: Poona, accessed on 27th Nov. 2019 (http://www.imdpune.gov.in/Links/100%20years%20of%20weather%20service.pdf)
  25. IMD 1925 Administrative Report of the India Meteorological Department for the year 1924-25 and a History of the Department during the half century 1875-1924. Government of India Press: Simla.
  26. IMD 1930 Report on the Administration of Meteorological Department of Government of India in 1929-30. Government of India Central Publication Branch: Calcutta.
  27. IMD 1939 Report on the Administration of Meteorological Department of Government of India in 1938-39, Government of India Press: New Delhi.
  28. IMD 1922 Report on the Administration of Meteorological Department of the Government of India in 1921-22. Government Central Press: Simla.
  29. IMD 1919 Report on the Administration of Meteorological Department of the Government of India in 1918-19. Government of Monotype Press: Simla.
  30. IMD 1931 Report on the Administration of the Meteorological Department of Government of India in 1930-31, Poona (accessed on 10th August 2015 http://dspace.gipe.ac.in/xmlui/bitstream/ handle/10973/33013/GIPE-009395-10.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y)
  31. Esq., C. L. 1905 The Cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, Between the 13 and 15 November 1903, Journal of Asiatic Society, Bengal LXXIII(II), p. 37.
  32. IMD (n.d. b.) India Meteorological Department RTI Manual I available at http:// www.imd.gov.in/doc/rtimanual/manual1.htm(accessed on 14th July 2015)
  33. IMD (n.d.a.) India Meteorological Department report available at http://www.imd.gov.in/ section/nhac/dynamic/cwo.pdf(accessed on 5 August 2013).
  34. Agrawal, S. P. (ed.) 1994 Committees and Commissions in India. Vol. 17 Part A, Concept Publishing: New Delhi, Chapter 9
  35. Frank, N. L. and Husain, S. A. 1971 The deadliest tropical cyclone in history? Bulletin American Meteorological Society. 52(6): 438-443
  36. Mallick, F. H. and Rahman, M. A. 2008 Cyclone Shelters and Alternatives for Sustained Development in Bangladesh. Journal of South Asia Disaster Studies. 1(1): 59-67
  37. National Disaster Management Authority(NDMA). 2008. Management of Cyclone,Government of India: New Delhi. https://ndma.gov.in/images/guidelines/cyclones.pdf
  38. Deville, J., Guggenheim, M. and Hrdlikova, J. 2014 Concrete Governmentality: shelters and the transformation of preparedness. The Sociological Review DOI: 10.1111/1467-954X.12129: 62 183210
  39. Kalsi, S. R. 2003 Monitoring and Forecasting of Tropical Cyclones and their Associated Effects, in H. K.Gupta (eds.), Disaster Management. Universities Press: Hyderabad, pp. 70-75
  40. Obasi, G. O. P. 1994 WMO’s role in the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 75 (9): 1655-1661
  41. IMD 2011 Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for Applied Research in Meteorology. Current Science 101 (12): 1608
  42. India Meteorology Department. 2014. ‘Annual Report 2014’, Ministry of EarthSciences, Government of India, New Delhi.
  43. Garg, K. C., Sharma, P. and Kumar, S. 2008 Mausam A need for inclusion in SCI- Expanded, Current Science. 94 (5): 557
  44. IITM 2001 Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology: A Profile 1962-2001. Brochure No. BR6. Pune available at http://www.tropmet.res.in/~jsc/IITM-Brochure.pdf(accessed on 1 st May 2015)
  45. MOES 2007 a) Report of the Committee for Redefining mandate of IMD NCMRWF and IITM and Restructuring of IMD. Ministry of Earth Science, January 2007. Government of India: New Delhi.
  46. Sikka, D. R. 2009 Two Decades of Medium Range Weather Forecasting in India: National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting. Cola Technical Report 276 May 2009 available at ftp://iges.org/pub/ctr/CTR276_ms.pdf(accessed on 10th August 2015)
  47. Ginis, I. 2002 Tropical Cyclone-Ocean Interactions. Atmosphere-Ocean Interactions, Advances in Fluid Mechanics Series No. 33. WIT Press: 83-114