JOIN USMobile apps to cut delays, send out disaster alerts
The authorities are banking on mobile apps, now in the making, to send out alerts ahead of extreme natural events.
DH reported on Sunday how the city had no system in place to alert citizens when a natural disaster is imminent. The downpour in Bengaluru on Tuesday made it the wettest day in 127 years. It was also the highest for August since 1890.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Cell and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) are convinced apps can help them reach citizens directly.
“We have tied up with engineering students from M S Ramaiah College to develop an app to give real-time alerts,” said G S Srinivas Reddy, director, KSNDMC.
Work began three months ago. It will take three more months to complete the development. Testing will call for more time, he told DH.
Under the present system, alerts go to decision makers and not to people living in danger zones.
The arrangement is bureaucratic, Reddy admitted, adding that people could register on the KSNDMC website and get real-time alerts for specific locations.
Only 277 people have signed up for the alerts now, and of them, 250 are BBMP officials.
The IMD head office in New Delhi is also working on creating a mobile app to send forecasts to citizens and farmers.
“Alerts were being sent only to the district office, but after what we saw on Monday, we are sending them to the BBMP commissioner as well,” said Sunder M Methri, director in charge of IMD, Bengaluru.
DH News Service