Cities under Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) are now included in the forecast list of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). The IMD will mention Gilgit-Baltistan and Muzaffarabad that are part of PoK in its forecasts.
IMD eyes PoK
PoK cities are now part of area covered by the northwest division consisting of nine sub-divisions – Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi-Chandigarh-Haryana, Punjab, east Uttar Pradesh, west Uttar Pradesh, east Rajasthan and west Rajasthan.But IMD Director General M Mohapatra said that the IMD had been mentioning the PoK cities in its daily forecast since the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir since last August.
But the head of Regional Meteorological Department Kuldeep Srivastava said that the change was introduced on May 5 when after Pakistan’s Supreme Court allowed elections in PoK. The move was taken to strengthen India’s claim over PoK.
IMD takes PoK to international stage
According to internal sources, IMD wants the PoK cities to be in the list of forecasts for the RMC. Since IMD has included PoK in its daily national bulletin and local bulletin, it has the point to get these cities listed in the list of RMC.
IMD is World Meteorological Department nominated Regional Meteorological Center that releases forecasts for severe weather conditions to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan detailing forecasts for the next five days.
Pakistan is preparing to hold elections in PoK according to the directive of its Supreme Court. But India has raised objections to this move to strengthen its claim on PoK.
Source: https://bit.ly/3b9nv2g