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Journalism of Courage
India on monday unveiled its own tsunami early warning system put together by scientists, barely three years after it wreaked havoc along the country8217;s southern coastline. The National Early Warning System for Tsunami and Storm Surges in the Indian Ocean was inaugurated by Minister of Earth Sciences Kapil Sibal in a ceremony attended by Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, top scientists and senior government officials.
The tsunami warning centre, which took shape at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services INCOIS, would issue alerts for the killer waves within 30 minutes of an earthquake. 8220;We had promised to put in place a tsunami warning system soon after the December 2004 tsunami devastated many coastal parts of the country. We deliver the system today,8221; Sibal said after the inauguration.
Department of Science and Technology, Department of Space and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and would give timely advisories to the Ministry of Home Affairs to disseminate warnings to the public as well the state emergency operations centres.
A red alert relayed by warning system requires the citizens and the administration to be prepared for evacuation while in the event of an orange alert the administration has to remain vigilant. INCOIS, in collaboration with Tata Consultancy Services, has generated simulations of 550 possible scenarios of triggering of tsunami after massive earthquakes.
