UPSC Prelims 2026 Question:

Which of the following statements with regard to India's indigenous new high resolution weather model, the 'Bharat Forecast System,' is/are correct?

1. Its objective is to generate forecasts at the Panchayats cluster level. 
2. It was developed by IIT Delhi.
   
   

Select the answer using the code given below:

Explanation: 

The Bharat Forecast System (BharatFS) is based on the newly implemented Triangular Cubic Octahedral  (TCo) dynamical grid that enables the model to operate at 6 km horizontal resolution, surpassing its predecessor  (GFS T1534 ~ 12km) and typical global operational models having horizontal resolution of 9–14 km. 

• The BFS was developed to generate forecasts at the cluster of panchayats level and improve the  prediction of extreme weather events. Its 6 km × 6 km spatial resolution makes this possible; earlier,  one forecast used to be issued for four villages; the BFS enables separate forecasts for each of those four  villages. So Statement 1 is correct. 
• BFS was not developed by IIT Delhi. The Bharat Forecast System was developed by the Indian  Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, and will be operationalised by IMD. IITM is an  autonomous institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, not IIT Delhi. So Statement 2 is incorrect.

Therefore, option (1) is the correct answer.