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Journalism of Courage
VADODARA, July 28: The Disaster Warning System equipment installed in the district collectorate here since the past four years has broken down again. And if official sources are to be believed, the equipment never worked since the day it was installed.
While District Collector Anil Mukim says that his office has been time and again requesting the Meteorological Centre, Gandhinagar, for repairing the DWS, the equipment has not been working despite all efforts. Even the Central team, which undertakes the repairs, has rarely visited the department for the purpose, claimed Resident Deputy Collector C R Kharsan.
Centre director R K Bakliwal, however, denied repeated complaints about the malfunctioning, but assured that he would get it repaired soon. Admitting that he was informed about the malfunctioning in the past, he said, 8220;One of my three-member team is currently on tour for similar inspections in several cities in the State. I will instruct them if they are in Central Gujarat to contact me.8221;
According to him, there are 20 such equipment in the State 8212; three in Union Territory of Daman, Diu and Nagar Haveli 8212; and eight in parts of Maharashtra, all supplied by the Government of India, and almost all working normally, though not without some rare and minor complaints.
The equipment manufactured by Indian Space Research Organisation, which costs at least Rs 1 lakh, is controlled by a satellite via a common dish antenna which gets different messages pertaining to likelihood of cyclones. The equipment then decodes the messages and relays the warning in two languages, English and Gujarati, after sounding a siren for nine minutes.
In the Vadodara collectorate, the equipment has been installed in the open lawns in front of the collector8217;s office, while its related equipment has been installed inside a room in the Chitnis branch.
