Tsunami early warning system by September 2007

Article from "The Hindu" dated 28th Feb 2006

A.V. Ragunathan

The integration of design and engineering aspects to be indigenised: Goel

It is said that the system being highly analytical, it would be free from false alarms Already there are five tide gauges at Andaman and Nicobar, Chennai, Kochi and Visakhapatnam

STONE LAID: P.S. Goel, Director, Department of Ocean Development, at the Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology at Portonovo near Cuddalore on Sunday.

CUDDALORE:

The tsunami early warning system will be operational by September 2007, according to P.S. Goel, Secretary, Government of India, Department of Ocean Development (DOD). He disclosed this after laying the foundation stone for the "Disaster mitigation technology demonstration and training centre" on the premises of the Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology of the Annamalai University at Portonovo on Sunday.

Mr. Goel said the scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation and the National Institute of Ocean Technology were working on the system. While the integration of design and engineering aspects would be indigenised, certain equipment meant for the system might be imported. As the system would be highly analytical, it would be foolproof and free from false alarms, he said. Unlike in Japan that was often pounded by the tsunami, it was a rare occurrence in India.

Mr. Goel said the tsunami warning system basically started with seismology activity detection, done in multiple ways. The DOD was establishing the full functional unit at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services at Hyderabad. Already, five tide gauges had been deployed at places such as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chennai, Kochi and Visakhapatnam, to monitor changes in tide behaviour.

When asked whether any contour changes in the sea were visible post-tsunami, Mr. Goel said there were no significant changes along the coastal areas in the mainland. L.B. Venkatrangan, Vice-Chancellor of Annamalai University, T. Balasubramanian, Director, Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology, and Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Collector, participated.

Mr. Goel said the tsunami warning system basically started with seismology activity detection, done in multiple ways. The DOD was establishing the full functional unit at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services at Hyderabad. Already, five tide gauges had been deployed at places such as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chennai, Kochi and Visakhapatnam, to monitor changes in tide behaviour.When asked whether any contour changes in the sea were visible post-tsunami,

Mr. Goel said there were no significant changes along the coastal areas in the mainland. L.B. Venkatrangan, Vice-Chancellor of Annamalai University, T. Balasubramanian, Director, Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology, and Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Collector, participated.

PRA exercise at Thazhanguda hamlet organised by GOI - UNDP's DRM programme and World Vision's Tsunami Recovery Programme

Lighting of Kuthu Vizhku by Ms. Eva Van Beek, IUNV, UN Field Reporting Officer

Lighting of Kuthu Vizhaku by Ms. Sakinabee, DPO - DRM Programme

Inaugural speech by the Chief Guest - Mr. Jaganathan, Project Officer, DRDA

Mr. RajaKumar, Programme Manager, World Vision orienting about the purpose of the programme to the villagers

Women participants for the PRA

Mr. Jaganathan, PO-DRDA interacting with the community people after Inaugural

Photos taken during TOT training on Disaster Preparedness

Mr. Raj Kumar, Programme Manager - Cuddalore welcoming the participants

Ms. Sakinabee, DPO-DRMP, Cuddalore addressing the participants about the role of DRM Programme in Cuddalore District

Mr. Sherine David, NUNV, UNTRS-TN orientation to participants on introduction to Disaster preparedness

Participants of the TOT training

Cops intensify search for tsunami survivor

Article from www.newsindpress.com

Thursday April 6 2006 00:00 IST

CUDDALORE: The disappearance of a little boy, who was rescued twice from the jaws of death when the tsunami struck the Devanampattinam coast near here over a year ago, is as shrouded in mystery as ever.

Three-year-old G S Thalha of Udhagamandalam had disappeared on Black Sunday and every effort to trace him turned futile.

He was, incidentally, rescued by Superintendent of Police (SP) S Panneer Selvam on the same day. However, there was no information about his whereabouts later.The police commenced a fresh investigation on Wednesday to trace the boy when they stumbled on a clue - a photograph of Thalha.

Thalha had visited the Silver Beach in Devanampattinam along with his father Safiyullah (34), mother Parveen (28), brothers G S Thanveer (8) and Bhilal (1), and uncle Nawaz (14) on December 26, 2004.As the giant waves struck the coast, Safiyullah pushed Thalha into a car. He then rang up his friend Fhareed over cellular phone to inform him about the tsunami. But, Fhareed, in Udhagamandalam, could hear only loud splashes of the waves and the line got disconnected.While Thanveer and Nawaz were rescued by local residents, the bodies of Safiyullah, Parveen and Bhilal were recovered by the family members.Later, the Superintendent of Police informed the family that he had rescued Thalha and handed him over to “someone standing next to him”.

Based on a complaint by Umar Farooq, brother of Safiyullah, the SP formed a special team to trace the boy. The team visited several places and conducted searches.Farooq said, “The family members had screened more than 60 CDs and several thousand photographs taken during and after the tsunami.

Yesterday, they noticed a photograph of a teenaged girl with Thalha on her lap and two fisherwomen seated next to her.”Farooq gave the photograph to Panneer Selvam on Wednesday, who, in turn, immediately sent DSP K Feroz Khan Abdullah to Devanampattinam to investigate.

The team conducted combing operations and detained two fisherwomen, sources said.

Source:

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?

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