Thousands in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are grateful not just to the individuals and social organisations that came forward to help them rebuild their lives but also to the satellites orbiting in space. For, these satellites helped them find their family and friends in the debris. At last count, ISRO satellites had traced 1,000 missing persons in the region.It all began when the administration faced an impromptu crisis of reuniting thousands of orphans with their families, whose fate remained obscure in the fallout. The ISRO decided to deploy its telemedicine system for an innovative rescue operation.Visuals of orphaned persons stuck in camps far away from their native village and islands were simultaneously beamed using portable satellite communication equipment to hundreds of relief camps. This was watched by thousands of anxious victims housed in these camps.Many identified their kin and their current location through this transmission. Each time someone found his family, the administration was immediately alerted, who took over from that point. A little cheer and several days later many were re-united with their kin. ‘‘At the last count, we had reunited 1000 families. But for the ISRO network this exercise would have taken several months,’’ says a proud G Madhavan Nair, ISRO chairman.‘‘Within 24 hours of the incident, we could establish communication links with all inhabited islands and the mainland. The network was also used for introducing medical services via telemedicine network. We also moved several communication equipment through which people could contact mainland,’’ he said.The ISRO moved its satellites to focus exclusively on the affected areas. ‘‘Our satellites transmitted images of worst hit areas to the planning managers. Availability of realtime data helped speed up relief and rescue operation,’’ said Nair.
