Tsunamis: India to install special sensors

Shaken by the magnitude of the impact of tsunamis on south India and other parts of Asia, the Centre has decided to install special sensors in the sea.

"We are going to purchase 6-12 special censors and install them six kilometres below the surface. These would transmit data to receiving stations through satellites and enable us to give real time warning to people about tsunamis," Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal told mediapersons.

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Before tsunamis wrecked havoc on Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, no government in the past had thought of purchasing such censors. Sibal claims that if he had put in a request for the purchase of tsunami prediction equipment even six months back, the planning commission would have turned it down as the last recorded tsunami attack had taken place in 1883.

He denied that the Pacific Tsunami Centre had forewarned the Indian government about the disaster. "India is not a member of the Pacific Tsunami Centre and they did not share any information with us," he said.

He denied the charge that the Indian Metrological Department had information (about the tsunamis) well in advance but failed to sound a warning.

He also disclosed that besides the earthquake measuring 8.9 [on the Richter Scale] recorded at 6.26 am in Sumatra, Indonesia, another quake measuring 7 [on the Richter Scale] hit Nicobar Island at 9.51 am on December 26, but it was the quake in Sumatra that generated the tsunamis.

He declined to give the exact sequence of the events and the response of the IMD on December 26. "Even if we had got half-an-hour of lead time, what can you do in such a short time?"

The government would coordinate with Indonesia and other nations in South Asia over sharing information on tsunamis. It has also sent a ship Sagar Kanya to verify claims that some islands on the Indian Oceans been displaced by as much as 30 metres.