India’s mobile disaster alert system sends geo-targeted warnings in regional languages: Govt

The government informed Lok Sabha that India's Cell Broadcast Alert System provides geo-targeted disaster warnings in regional languages across all mobile networks. The system issues alerts for events including cyclones, floods, avalanches and industrial disasters through the NDMA's Common Alerting Protocol

New Delhi: From avalanches in the Himalayas to industrial and man-made disasters in urban centres, India’s mobile-based disaster alert system issues geo-targeted warnings in regional languages that reach users across all mobile networks, including those in remote and vulnerable areas, the government informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

In a written response, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said that the Cell Broadcast Alert System is used to provide timely warnings for disasters with very short lead time, including cyclones, tsunamis, heavy rainfall, lightning, flash floods, thunderstorms, hailstorms, avalanches, cloudbursts and industrial or man-made disasters, besides other events requiring immediate public alerting.

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Warning-generating agencies provide geo-targeted warnings, which are then disseminated to people in the affected areas. Rai said the system operates through the Integrated Alert System based on the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), implemented by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

The platform integrates five warning-generating agencies the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Central Water Commission (CWC), Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Defence Geoinformatics Research Establishment (DGRE) and Forest Survey of India (FSI) along with the State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs).

The respective warning-generating agencies and SDMAs are responsible for issuing and authorising disaster-specific alerts, while the CAP-based platform facilitates their dissemination through the cell broadcast system.

The minister said timely receipt and dissemination of warnings are among the factors that help reduce disaster-related casualties and improve emergency preparedness by enabling people to take necessary precautions before disasters strike.

He also said all warnings generated by the forecasting agencies are translated into the state language of the target population by the respective SDMAs before dissemination. The alerts are received across all mobile networks and handsets in the geo-targeted areas, including remote and vulnerable regions, Rai added.