RAS question
Which city became the first in India to fully operationalise a Real-Time Flood Forecasting and Spatial Decision Support System (RTFF & SDSS) in 2025?
Correct answer: (D) Chennai.
Chennai became India's first city to fully operationalise a Real-Time Flood Forecasting and Spatial Decision Support System in 2025.
Explanation
Chennai is the answer because the city's RTFF & SDSS had become completely operational and was billed as the country's first-of-its-kind urban flood management system. The system is not only a general warning platform: it covers lakes, rivers, storm-water drains and the sea, and provides reliable forecasts of water levels as well as street-level inundation forecasts for vulnerable parts of the city. For exam purposes, the key details are that the system became fully operational in October 2025, costs Rs 107.2 crore, covers 4,974 sq km across five districts, was executed with World Bank support, involves TNUIFSL in handling the project fund, and can disseminate selected findings through the TN-Alert mobile application.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Mumbai is wrong because India's first-of-its-kind RTFF & SDSS became completely operational in Chennai, not Mumbai.
- (B) Hyderabad is wrong because the first fully operational RTFF & SDSS was Chennai's urban flood management system.
- (C) Kolkata is wrong because the completely operational real-time flood forecast and spatial decision support system was located in Chennai and served Chennai's urban flood management needs.
Concept
This tests urban flood management under Indian geography, especially how coastal cities use forecasting, drainage and spatial decision-support systems. It recurs in RAS because disaster management, monsoon flooding and city-level resilience are standard current-affairs applications of geography.