As against conventional radars, the Dopplers provide information like wind speed, intensity and other related aspects which can be utilised for minimising the time taken for analysing cyclone intensity. This, in turn, would help preventive measures to be taken up well in advance and reduce the extent of damage to life and property.

To begin with, a Doppler radar will be set up at Visakhapatnam as part of the World Bank-aided Andhra Pradesh Hazard Mitigation Emergency Cyclone Recovery Project. The Union Ministry of Science and Technology has given the go-ahead for the installation of three to four such radars along the coastal belt.

According to official sources, the bids for setting up Doppler radars would be finalised soon. This apart, several high wind speedrecorders and additional cyclone warning information dissemination centres will also be set up all along the coastal belt under the Rs 800-crore World Bank-aided project.

While the State's share in the project is Rs 746 crore, the remaining Rs 54 crore would be borne by the IMD. The World Bank is granting a loan to the extent of 68 per cent of the cost incurred by the State Government.

The project commenced about 20 months ago and the Government has so far spent Rs 180 crore on restoration of infrastructural facilities badly damaged in the cyclone which hit the coastal belt in 1996.

Admitting that a delay in the release of funds had hampered the speedy execution of works, officials said the projects would be completed before July next year, when the project period ends.

The Government is embarking on mandal-level computerisation under the Information Technology component of the project wherein data pertaining to mandals would be computerised.

In case of a cyclone, the data would be integrated withvital information like wind speeds, occurrence of landslides and flood forecast to give a picture of the cyclone's impact in a particular area at a given point of time.

The Government had identified 230 mandals in the coastal districts as `vulnerable'. In addition to the existing cyclone shelters, the Irrigation Department had taken up construction of 91 shelters.

Meanwhile, sources said the Government had finalised bids submitted by two international consultants for conducting "technical studies" in cyclone- prone areas.

The study, estimated to cost about Rs 30 crore, is aimed at providing a comprehensive picture of the vulnerable zones, suggest precautionary measures and evolve infrastructural designs which can withstand cyclones.

As part of it, computerised models of the movement of cyclonic storm and the damage it could cause to a particular area would also be prepared.