At 11:45 am on Saturday, a siren-like sound started echoing simultaneously from many mobile phones across the country. A message appeared on the screen in both Hindi and English. When the siren stopped, the message was also played through a mobile device. While on one hand this spread panic among many people, on the other hand some people got confused. However, the government clarified that there is no need to panic. This message was sent by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) as a trial of the emergency mobile alert system. On May 2, NDMA tested this ‘Cell Broadcast Alert System’ to find out how effective it is in providing information to people during emergencies.
Simultaneous nationwide testing of emergency messages
On Saturday, a test message was sent simultaneously to all mobile phones in all state capitals of the country and the Delhi-NCR region. The message was sent not only in Hindi and English, but also in all major regional languages. The message told people that it was just a test and they did not need to do anything about it.
The government had already issued advice: do not panic about the message
Two days before the incident, the government had issued a message appealing to people not to panic if they received a testing alert. Saturday’s message was sent only to test the functioning of the warning system, which is designed to provide alerts during emergency situations.
SACHET’ SYSTEM: INDIGENOUSLY DEVELOPED
To provide ‘real-time’ alerts to people during emergencies, the government agency—’Centre for Development of Telematics’ (C-DOT)—has developed an integrated alert system named ‘SACHET’. Known as ‘Sachet’, this system is based on ‘Common Alerting Protocol’ (CAP). It has been activated in all 36 states and union territories of the country.
‘Real-time’ alerts made possible through cell broadcast technology
NDMA has integrated mobile SMS services with ‘Cell Broadcast’ (CB) technology. This integration ensures that alerts reach all active mobile phones present in any given geographical area simultaneously. As a result, ‘real-time’ information can be effectively delivered to the public at times of emergency.
Government statement: More than 134 billion alerts sent so far
According to official reports, the system has already been used to issue alerts about various natural disasters and events, such as extreme weather conditions and cyclones. Till date, over 134 billion SMS alerts have been sent in over 19 Indian languages. This system can be used to give immediate warning to people during any emergency situation.
