Sri Lanka Looks To WMO Expertise To Boost Weather Forecasting Capabilities

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka's Cabinet of Ministers have decided to obtain the technical assistance from the World Meteorological Organization to improve forecasts and early warning of severe weather, floods and landslides in the country.

The Department of Government Information said that th Climate Resilience Multi-Phase Programmatic Approach is funded by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank and is planned to be implemented over nine years under three phases.

The first component of the five-component program is designed to improve the skills, technology and infrastructure of the relevant institutions to enable accurate forecasting and pre-assessment of weather conditions.

By doing so, it is expected that it will be possible to accurately predict high-risk weather and climate conditions very quickly and reduce the estimated cost of US$ 313 million annually spent by the government on post-disaster management activities.

Accordingly the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Irrigation to obtain the services of the World Meteorological Organization, an international organization with extensive experience in the field of meteorology and hydrology and the technical ability to improve emergency warning systems.