Relevance: GS III (Disaster Management & Science) | Source: PIB / Science News

1. What is the news?

India has launched a powerful, 100% ‘Made in India’ weather system called the MHEW-DSS (Multi-Hazard Early Warning Decision Support System).

• The Old Way: Earlier, the weather department only gave general updates like, “Heavy rain is expected.”
• The New Way (Impact-Based): Now, the system tells us exactly what the weather will do. It gives warnings like, “This specific village road will flood, and crops will be damaged.” ### 2. Key Features for Prelims (Simple Points)
  UPSC asks about specific schemes. Remember these three terms:
• Mission Mausam: This is the main government scheme behind this upgrade. Its goal is to make India a “Weather Ready” nation.
• Mausamgram Portal: A newly launched website. It gives an exact 10-day weather forecast for over 1.5 lakh specific pin codes and villages across India.
• Fully Indian & Global Leader: India built this system completely in-house, saving ₹250 crore by not paying foreign companies. In fact, India’s IMD is now so advanced that it shares these exact warnings with 10 neighboring countries (like Bangladesh and Maldives).

3. Who Runs It? 

• The Creator: It was built by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), which works under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
• The Users: The IMD gives this data to rescue teams like the NDRF and NDMA so they can take action on the ground.

4. How does it help the Common Man?

• Saving Lives (Zero Deaths): Because the system predicted the exact path of recent cyclones (Biparjoy and Dana), the government got 7 extra days to shift people. The result? Zero deaths in Gujarat and Odisha.
• Helping Farmers: Through local workers (Krishi Sakhis), farmers get hyper-local SMS alerts on exactly when to sow seeds or harvest crops, increasing their annual income and saving them from sudden rains.
• Managing Heatwaves: It predicts severe heatwaves in advance, helping hospitals prepare cooling wards for vulnerable people like pregnant women and children.

5. Global Connections

• Sendai Framework: By building this advanced early warning system, India is successfully fulfilling Target G of the United Nations’ Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The “UPSC Trap”

• The “Nodal Ministry” Trap: Because this topic is about “Disaster Management,” UPSC will try to trick you by saying the system was developed by the Home Ministry or NDMA. Incorrect. It was developed purely by the IMD, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
• The “Foreign Tech” Trap: A statement might say India took help from NASA or foreign vendors to build this. Incorrect. It is completely indigenous (Made in India).

UPSC Value Box

With reference to India’s disaster preparedness and weather forecasting, consider the following statements:

1. The Multi-Hazard Early Warning Decision Support System (MHEW-DSS) was primarily developed by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
2. ‘Mausamgram’ is an initiative designed to provide hyper-local, pin-code-level weather forecasts to citizens.
3. The deployment of advanced early warning systems aligns directly with Target G of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer: (b)