November 26, 2018
New lightning alert system – direct SMS to people
The State Government is taking initiatives to ensure that lightning alert reaches common people directly at the grassroots level.
The State Disaster Management and Civil Defence Department had introduced a state-of-the-art technology, in collaboration with a US company, in early 2018 that predicts lightning and information gets disseminated 45 minutes before it strikes.
At present, the information gets disseminated among concerned officials of all ranks, including the district authorities, and representatives of gram panchayats. These officials in turn alert the people in their areas.
Now, in a bid to make the system more effective, the lightning alert messages would be sent directly to people’s mobile phones in the form of SMSes, giving them more time to get away from a place.
The messages have to be sent specifically only to those who reside in the block where there is possibility of lightning and the matter has been discussed in the meeting to find a way out. There will be further meetings in this connection.
It may be mentioned that introduction of the mechanism to generate an alert message 45 minutes before lightning strikes a particular area has helped to make many people become aware and get to safety in time. The new system would give them more time, and would lead to lesser and lesser deaths.
Source: Millennium Post
