Tale of a run-down weather centre

The Patuakhali Meteorological Office with all rooms locked, snapped at 2pm on April 20. PHOTO: STAR

At about 3 pm, Abdul Halim, the official responsible for running the office, came and unlocked his ground floor office room. Halim's official designation is Officer-in-Charge.

Weather monitoring is a round-the-clock job. So the OC's official residence is on the first floor. But Abdul Halim stays outside the compound.

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"Do not blame me", he said in an apologetic tone.

"We can not function properly because of shortage of manpower and apparatus", he said.

The two journalists went to the office on April 20 after failing to get any body there over telephone.

Halim said all three posts of Baloon Maker are vacant for long. The job of a Baloon Maker is to take data on weather from other apparatus. This is the job of an expert but done by a clerk now, he said.

The Weight Bulb, fixed on the lawn reads humidity of air. Nearby, there is the Rain Compiler. The Sunshine Recorder which records temperature, and the Wind Indicator are fixed on the rooftop.

Abdul Halim said weather report is sent to Dhaka Meteorological Office daily, which prepares reports for radio and television. Correct weather report can not be prepared always because of shortage of expert manpower, Halim said.

Patuakhali meteorological office was set up in 1970. Since then it was not renovated.

Rain water trickles through cracks in the roof, often spoiling essential papers, Halim said.