Centre tests nationwide emergency alert system

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like The Centre on Saturday launched a nationwide Cell Broadcast System (CBS), a telecom-based alert mechanism that sends emergency warnings directly to mobile phones in specific areas. Centre tests nationwide emergency alert systemThe system was launched by communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and has been developed by the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the ministry of home affairs (MHA), under the guidance of home minister Amit Shah, said a press release Saturday. “Whenever a disaster strikes our country, the integration of human resources and technology has been brought together today to ensure the safety of 1.4 billion people… It does not require any phone database or data system, and is completely operator-agnostic, meaning all telecom service providers can connect to this network together,” said Scindia in a video post, loosely translated from Hindi, on X. CBS allows authorities to push alerts to all phones within a defined location at the same time. Unlike SMS alerts, which can get delayed or queued, these messages are delivered almost instantly, even during network congestion. They show up as pop-up notifications with a loud alert tone, and on some phones, the message can also be read aloud. As part of the rollout, a nationwide test was carried out on Saturday, with users across the country receiving test alerts around noon. The message titled ‘Extremely severe alert’ read: “India, launches 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 government had already flagged this earlier in the week, saying people might get messages in English, Hindi and regional languages, and that no action was required to be taken by the receiver. Some users received multiple test messages, especially if their phones had test alerts enabled. The new system is built on top of the existing Integrated Alert System or the SACHET platform, which already sends disaster alerts via SMS. That system, based on the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), is operational across all states and Union territories and has been used to send over 134 billion SMS alerts so far in more than 19 Indian languages. The addition of cell broadcast is meant to plug gaps in time-sensitive situations like earthquakes, tsunamis, lightning strikes or industrial accidents where delays in SMS delivery can matter. CBS works across 2G to 5G networks and is designed to reach everyone in a target area, including people who are roaming. The government said these alerts cannot be turned off during actual emergencies. Officials said the system can send alerts in multiple languages and can be scaled from a small area, like a cluster of cell towers, to larger regions. Trials have already been carried out across states, and the system has reportedly been used in disaster situations in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Uttarakhand, as well as during the Char Dham Yatra.