Automated disaster alert system for Andamans

PORT BLAIR: The Andaman and Nicobar Islands' administration is in the process of putting in place an automated disaster alert system, in a bid to reduce delay in passing on information about approaching natural disasters.

The alert system would be connected directly to Hyderabad- based Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Andaman and Nicobar Lieutenant Governor Lt Gen (retd) A K Singh said here today.

"We will set up the automated disaster alert system here within a year or so. Once it is put in place the Island will be able to get signals on natural disasters directly from INCOIS," Singh said.

Inaugurating Indian Navy's ninth biennial international naval exercise MILAN 2014 here, he said the armed forces' presence in the Island is vital in reconstruction of the town, post disasters.

Listing out natural disasters which the Island had faced since 1881, Singh said that after the signals were received, authorities would swing into action and evacuate the vulnerable people to save their lives.

He said the system would help avert the delay caused due to bureaucratic hierarchies in urgent situations.

Admiral D K Joshi, Chief of Naval Staff emphasised the coordination required between different navies while engaged in rescue operations just after a natural disaster.

"This common challenge (natural disasters) also requires co-operation between our nations and navies, to mitigate losses and improve disaster management, as brought out in our collective experiences of Tsunamis and cyclones in the past," Joshi said.

A total of 17 navies in the Indian Ocean Region are participating in the five-day event here.