MHA working on nationwide disaster alert plan on phones
Cell Broadcasting Solution (CBS) at pan India level that will alert mobile phone users with a sound whenever there is a disaster alert, said officials.
The facility will be part of Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) run by DoT on behalf of the MHA during natural disasters such as flood, earthquakes, landslides among others, they added.
A senior government official further explained, «CAP is an SMS based alert protocol which takes data from government scientific agencies like IMD, CWC, NCS and issues real-time alerts to citizens in the Area of Concern such as track of a cyclone, as SMS on their mobile phones,» explained a senior official. The implementation of CBS will help in mitigation of human lives and livestock in remote parts of the country. "
CBS is DoT-run short message push service from telecom service provider as a one-to-many geo-fenced service. It appears on active or inactive mobile phones. CBS will wake you up with a sound if there is a disaster alert," explained another official.
«This further ensures that important emergency information reaches as many people as possible in a timely manner. It is used by government agencies and emergency services to inform the public about potential threats and keep them informed during critical situations,» he added.
It is commonly used to deliver emergency alerts such as severe weather warnings (Tsunami, flash flood, earthquake etc.) public safety messages, evacuation notices, and other critical information.
Last year, the DoT conducted tests in Punjab, Tamil Nadu
