News Tamil Nadu

Self-Styled Dravidian Stock Weatherman Pradeep John Derogates Indian Meteorological Dept

January 30, 2025
The Commune

Pradeep John, popularly known as the Tamil Nadu Weatherman, has strongly derogated the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) in the wake of recent weather forecasting controversies, accusing the government-run body of failing to predict critical weather events accurately. John’s remarks came in response to a statement made by Balachandran, the head of the Chennai Meteorological Department, who had previously criticized private meteorologists for speaking out during heavy rains in pursuit of fame.

Speaking at an event held at Queen Mary College, Chennai, on 29 January 2025, Balachandran criticized private weather forecasters, particularly during the rainy season, for seeking attention and recognition rather than focusing on accurate predictions. He said, “During heavy rains, private weather bloggers speak anything for fame, and no one should pay heed to it.”

He also said that during monsoon season it was necessary to confirm several scientific data and hence the IMD officials take extra care and attention to do it. He also spoke about the aid of ₹2000 crore rupees that the central government had given to modernize the institution. He said, “It is going to come under the Mission Mausam project – they have announce 2000 crores, to help make predicting weather better. More predicting, more data is going to come into the picture, better analysis, otherwise just for popularity you do, it is a different issue.”

However, John, in a scathing response, took to social media to defend the private meteorologists. In what seems to be an edited post, he first wrote, “Work properly for the salary you receive. Why make pointless talk? Weather bloggers who dont expect anything and give interpretation to the public. Public should demand to conduct enquiry on IMD failure on the IMD forecasts of 2024 Cyclone Fengal and 2023 Floods in South TN and make them accountable for all failures – It is our public money they get as salary.”

He later edited it multiple times and the final post read, “Weather bloggers dont expect anything and give interpretation to the public. Public should demand to conduct enquiry on IMD failure on the IMD forecasts of 2024 Cyclone Fengal and 2023 Floods in South TN and make them accountable for failures – It is our public money they get as salary. Accountability Accountability sonna pothathu, they should be made accountable. Road seri illana we ask Water varalana we ask Electricity cut na we ask Weather update seri illaana we wont ask All are our hard earned tax money!!!”

It is noteworthy that the same self-styled weather blogger Pradeep John had justified the stagnation and flooding due to rains in the DMK regime. 

In an interview with Galatta, he said, “We can withstand and manage rain up to 15cm. We can manage somewhat when we receive 20cm of rainfall. Yes, water will stagnate for a day, if we receive 30cm of rain, surely the localities like Pallikaranai marshlands, Pulianthope, Mudichur, Paruthipattu, Thiruverkadu, Mugalivakkam, will see stagnation – all these places have water bodies near them. If we receive 40cm of rain, we will surely see water stagnating for 4 days because we know we have those problems.”

He also said, “People are expecting rainwater to drain out immediately after it stops raining. It doesn’t happen even in developed countries. If you look at intense rains, about 50-60mm rains fall within 30-40 minutes. I have already mentioned that ours is a flat surface. We cannot compare with Delhi, Mumbai or Hyderabad. If you observe from the TNagar area to the beach, it is very flat. So it takes time for water to drain out. There will be 1-2 hours of stagnation. We cannot call it flooding by any definition. If we receive 150mm of rain, water will stagnate for 6 hours surely. And if we receive more than 200mm, the water will stagnate for a day. Stormwater drains are laid for roads. We cannot lay SWD for cyclones like Michaung where we received 400mm rain. In that case, we have to dig up the roads and make it a drain. That is not feasible. We cannot make SWDs for heavy rains that come once in 100 years.”

In an interview with Karthigaichelvan of News18 Tamil, Pradeep echoed the DMK’s narrative regarding the tragedy at the IAF Marina Air Show, attributing the loss of lives to humidity. He seemed to blame the people for not taking enough water with them and not staying hydrated throught the event. This indirectly downplayed the acknowledged inefficiencies and mismanagement by the event organizers.

Weather Blogger Pradeep John’s Fudged Data During 2023 Floods

During the Michaung Cyclone that caused significant devastation to residents of Chennai, leading to widespread flooding across the city, the private weather blogger Pradeep John appeared at a press meeting with DMK ministers, where he manipulated the 36-hour rainfall data by comparing it to 24-hour data, claiming that the current administration is performing better. It’s important to note that Pradeep rose to prominence during the 2015 floods.

In reality, the city was inundated like no other. Areas that had never been flooded even during the 2015 floods like Annanagar, Madambakkam etc which do not flood during the monsoon season, were all inundated and water had entered most of the ground floor homes by 4 December 2023. Kollywood actor Vishal who took to social media platform X shared his plight from his Annanagar home. He said, “During such rains, we all know what will happen and is happening. First, they switch off the power, then waterlogging starts on the streets and then it enters homes. I am in Annanagar and water has entered my home. If this is the state of Annanagar, then imagine how it will be in low-lying areas. In 2015, we were able to help others as much as possible, but after 8 years, the situation is even worse. They announced a stormwater drain project, I am not able to find anything related to that – when was it started, when did they finish it, I have no idea. This is a request as a voter in the state, all MLAs from Chennai, please come out of your homes and have a look at the city and do whatever your constituency needs. This is not a political remark, this is a remark against the waterlogging problem. Even for a small rain, water gets logged in T Nagar but this time the entire city is waterlogged, and it is a disgusting and embarrassing situation we are in. Please take immediate measures for resolving this.”

“2021 Rains Were Heaviest Since 2015”

In 2021, when the DMK government had just come to power, it was peddled that Chennai, along with 11 other districts, received more than 20 cm of rain. This stage was set by Pradeep John on his weather blog and the same narrative was carried out in 2023 floods as well.

Despite Pradeep John claiming that he worked equally with both the Dravidian governments over the years with respect to weather predictions, it is clearly seen that he buttresses the DMK unfailingly. And he has the audacity to speak disrespectfully about an institution that has been there even he or his parents were born!

(With inputs from One India Tamil)

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