Early warning systems are a critical but under-utilised component of disaster risk reduction in India. Evaluate this in light of Mission Mausam.

Early warning systems (EWS) convert scientific forecasts into pre-emptive protective action, making them the cheapest arm of disaster risk reduction. Mission Mausam, approved by the Union Cabinet on 11 September 2024 with an outlay of ₹2,000 crore over two years [1] and launched on 14 January 2025 [2], seeks to close India's forecast-to-action gap — yet its dividends remain only partly realised.

Strengths: EWS as a proven life-saver

• Demonstrated mortality reduction: cyclone deaths fell from about 10,000 in 1999 to near-zero during 2020–2024, largely on the strength of timely warnings and evacuation [3].
• Forecast accuracy: a reported 40% improvement in severe-weather forecast accuracy over the previous decade [4].
• Indigenous modelling: the Bharat Forecast System at 6 km resolution enables panchayat-level forecasts, the finest granularity India has had [3].
• Observation density: Doppler radars rose from 15 (2014) to 39 (2023), with 87 more targeted by 2026 for near-complete coverage [3].
• Dissemination: the public Mausamgram platform offers hourly (36 hrs), 3-hourly (5 days) and 6-hourly (10 days) forecasts [4].

Under-utilisation: where warnings stop short of action

• Last-mile gap: accuracy gains do not automatically translate into response; warnings must reach farmers, fishers and urban poor in usable local form — hence the Mission's own emphasis on last-mile dissemination and impact-based forecasting [4].
• Hazard asymmetry: cyclone warning success is not matched for cloudbursts, urban floods, lightning and heatwaves, which are localised and short-lead.
• Institutional coordination: delivery depends on three MoES institutes — IMD, IITM and NCMRWF — plus state and district authorities acting on the alert [1].
• Uneven rollout: region-specific parliamentary scrutiny of implementation, as in the North-East, signals differential progress across states [5].

Mission Mausam therefore addresses the supply side of warnings well; the binding constraint lies downstream, in response capacity. Embedding IMD alerts into NDMA and district response protocols, and auditing "warning-to-action" outcomes rather than forecast accuracy alone, would convert scientific capability into resilience — advancing India's Sendai Framework commitment to universal early-warning coverage.