Met office launches phone app

Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) has launched a mobile application for providing detailed weather updates in the country.The application was aimed at preventing damage caused by natural disasters and ensure smooth movement of water vessels and aircraft, BMD officials said yesterday.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the service “Access to Real Time Digital Weather Information” yesterday.PM press secretary Ihsanul Karim said latest weather updates can be accessed from any location with the ‘BMD Weather App’.A met office spokesman said BMD developed the app for smart phone users who could download it from the Google Play Store.He said the application shows the latest weather information from the automatic weather monitoring centres situated in various parts of the country while one could immediately know about the latest information on air temperature, air pressure, direction, volume of rain using this app.The app would also show the cautionary signals regarding cyclones, earthquake, agriculture weather, hydrology, cold wave, and drought-related information. Moreover, the overall weather-related forecast and cautionary signalling system would be further strengthened in determining the route of storms by detecting their position, direction and severity. “This would eventually ensure safe river and air movements and thus play an important role in reducing the extent of losses of lives and property due to natural disasters,” the BMD official said. According to the official, through unveiling of this mobile apps service the government moved one step forward towards materialising its pledge of building ‘Digital Bangladesh’.BMD officials said one has to have Internet connection in smart mobile phone sets, and any user first need to go to the Google Play Store, then to the search icon and type BMD Weather App. Then the user would have to install the app.