India Approves $28 Million Tsunami Early Warning System
Date: 07-Oct-05
Country: INDIA
Author: Madhu Soman
Information Minister Jaipal Reddy said the round-the-clock monitoring system, costing 1.25 billion rupees ($28.2 million), will be set up at Hyderabad in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. It is likely to be operational by September 2007.
"The benchmark is information dissemination in 5 minutes, like in Japan and Chile," Reddy told reporters after a cabinet meeting. "The goal is timely dissemination of disaster information."
There were no warning systems when the strongest earthquake in at least 40 years triggered an unprecedented tsunami that hit South and Southeast Asia on Dec. 26 last year.
The Indian government came in for a lot of criticism for its inability to respond quickly to the disaster. It was also criticised for raising a false tsunami alarm four days later, when thousands fled the coast.
Indian Ocean nations currently rely on Pacific centres for tsunami alerts until they get their own centres up and running.
India is part of a 20-nation group, with seven regional tsunami warning centres, that will share real-time seismic data which will include estimated arrival times of initial waves and forecast of tsunami strength.
Early warning systems can help coastal areas like India's remote Andaman and Nicobar islands where panic strikes the local population each time a minor tremor is felt.
Close to 350 aftershocks have rattled the region in the last nine months.
(US $1 = 44.26 rupees)
