India's new cell broadcast alert system, launched by Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, will deliver critical disaster and emergency information directly to citizens' mobile phones nationwide.
Mobile phones across the country went abuzz after Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia launched the cell broadcast alert system on Saturday that will warn citizens about emergency and natural disasters in their area.
The department of telecom had already alerted citizens about the trial run of the service on April 29 to avoid panic, with an appeal to ignore any alerts they receive.
The test message read: "Extremely Severe Alert. India launched Cell Broadcast using indigenous technology, for instant disaster alerting service for its citizens. Alert citizens, safe nation. No action is required by the public upon receipt of this message. This is a test message- Government of India".
The alert system was sent across the network of all telecom operators across the country, except in poll-bound states.
"Union Minister for Communications and Development of North Eastern Region, Jyotiraditya Scindia, today launched the Cell Broadcast Alert System, developed indigenously by C-DOT in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), under the guidance of Home Minister Amit Shah," an official statement said.
Through this system, critical information related to disasters, emergencies, and public safety will be transmitted directly and instantly to citizens' mobile phones, the statement said.
The system is based on the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) as recommended by the UN body International Telecommunication Union. It is currently operational across all 36 States and Union Territories of India and delivers disaster and emergency-related alerts via SMS to mobile users within geo-targeted areas.
Cell Broadcast (CB) technology has been introduced alongside SMS, enabling alerts to be transmitted to all mobile devices within a defined geographic area simultaneously, ensuring near-real-time delivery.