New Delhi, May 10: The government has shelved plans to
launch the country`s first ever dedicated weather channel, a
top official said.
Plans to launch the weather channel, tentatively named
`Mausam`, were called off following differences over content
sharing, the official said.
Five private channels had evinced interest to partner
with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to launch a
weather channel, which was supposed to be on air this month.
The channel was to provide information on oceanic
movements, temperature and rainfall, as well as warnings about
natural disasters.
According to the basic plan, six-hour programming was
being planned everyday for the channel which was to be
upgraded as a 24-hour channel by 2010 before the Commonwealth
Games.
As per the plan the IMD was to provide weather related
data for a fee while the private partner was to bring in funds
and manage the channel on a day-to-day basis.
The channel was part of the UPA government`s plan to
modernise and upgrade the observatory stations and
communication, forecast and public information systems.
The IMD has been allocated Rs 900 crore in the Eleventh
Plan for modernisation and upgradation.
Bureau Report
