CHENNAI: Tsunami, that struck the Coast of South Asia and South-East Asia, shook the international community, not only because of the destruction it brought in its wake but also due to its transnational nature, hitting many coast within few hours. Technology has taken an upper hand in helping rescue operators with many telecom service providers and others offering technological help in Cuddalore, Nagapattinam and Kanyakumari.

In most cases, rebuilding communication links was the topmost priority and many telecom service providers rushed into action by providing services, such as establishing free telephone booths or setting up free Internet centers to enable the victims to contact their relative or track their kith and kin.

Reliance Infocomm set up around seven Fixed Wireless Phone (FWP) in Cuddalore, Nagapattinam and Kanyakumari and also distributed Reliance India Mobiles (RIM) to some of the police personnel and hospitals in these areas, free of cost. Besides, Airtel instituted free local call stations called 'Crisis call stations' at Tiruvarur, Karaikal, Kalpakkam, Pondicherry, Cuddalore and Kanyakumari, where people were allowed to make free calls for a duration of three minutes. And for the Airtel subscribers, prepaid recharge coupons were made available at a subsidized cost without processing free, at select outlets in the affected areas.

Sify Ltd had established two Internet centers, one each at Cuddalore and Kanyakumari. "Sify had plans to even open such a center in Nagapattinam too. But, the technical team could not establish the connectivity over there and this still poses a challenge for the technical people of Sify. As proper back-hall work could not be done, establishing a wireless connectivity also becomes impossible here," Sify CIO David Appasamy said. "Besides, Sify also associated with the Citi Bank group to collect funds from the probable donors and so far has collected Rs one crore online as part of the contribution made to the Red Cross and Prime Ministers' Relief Fund," he added.

Software companies also pitched in by providing their technological support in the affected areas. For instance, Cisco Systems, in association with NetHope Consortium, has been distributing NetRelief Kits, which is a wireless connection with core access coming from the satellite company - Inmarsat. IBM has setup a comprehensive information center in Nagapattinam to help the district administration co-ordinate the post-tsunami relief work.

Even though technology has helped in various ways, there is one pinch, which is been felt by many in the NGO community, i.e. the absence or failure of community radio or public address system, in rural areas. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has now planned to frame policy guidelines for running such satellite radio stations among the rural masses, which could be of immense value to the society besides being a mode of entertainment. The satellite radio stations can work as an early warning system in times of natural disasters because of its reach and ability to be functional even in remote areas.

The Indian government has also announced the installation of Tsunami Warning System in India at a cost of Rs 125 crore ($ 28.6 million), which would be made operational within two years. In another development, the Pacific Disaster Center in Hawaii has launched an initiative 'IndianOcean Tsunami Geospatial Information Service' to help the disaster managers to tap the high-quality geospatial data to reduce disaster risk and vulnerability in the region, which will provide information specific to tsunami.

Email This   Print This   Comments   RSS