1st tsunami alert system to be installed
The Asian Age — March 31, 2005

Chennai, March 30: As the state is still recovering from the anxiety caused by yet another tsunami alert, an NGO at Nagapattinam is gearing up to install the country’s first warning system on weather conditions for fishermen of four coastal districts. The knowledge centre will use data from ISRO, ICRISAT and Microsoft, besides many Canadian and US sources.

The Tata Relief Committee, an NGO promoted and funded by the Tata group, in association with the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, is setting up the Rural Knowledge Centre, the first of its kind in the country, Capt. K.S. Rao, coordinator, Tata Relief Committee said, "We will use the public address system to disseminate information on weather conditions, fish catch availability, sea tide behaviour, information on inoculation programmes for children, community welfare schemes and so on."

The centre will function as a hub and spokes model covering Kovalam in Kancheepuram, Cudaloor, Nagapattinam and Kanyakumari districts. Akkaraipettai village in Nagapattinam will be the hub. Eight other spokes will be put in place in the other districts," he explained. The Tata Relief Committee will provide the base equipment and the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation will supply the technicians, who will convert the data into usable information.

"The issue now is not just to rehabilitate the 20,000 odd fishermen left behind in the 17 villages of Nagapattinam, but to ensure that their lives are made meaningful and safer. The knowledge centre has a larger mission," Mr Rao said. The information will be of use to the public at large also, he pointed out. Already a temporary structure has been set up at Akkaraipettai where systems for the knowledge centre have been created.

"Once the new building is ready, we will host the satellite links and connect the eight spokes and the whole model will be ready by August this year," he added. A separate fund of Rs 32 crore has been created for the ongoing project. The Tata Relief Committee plans to build 900 permanent houses and give away 214 boats to the fishermen in Akkraipettai. "By the end of May this year, we would have given away all the boats," Mr Rao said.

The NGO is also coming up with a community rain centre at Akkrapettai. This building will have two floors and a ramp to take up disabled persons with a capacity to house more than 2000 people during cyclones or other calamities. An attempt is also being made to train people in other vocations. "It is going to be a hard task yet an important mission, " Capt. Rao asserted.