All at Sea

"A wreck on shore is a beacon at sea."

One news that was doing the rounds yesterday was, that India's own tsunami warning system, the National Early Warning for Tsunami and Storm Surges in the Indian Ocean, is now ready for official deployment. The system will be inaugurated by the Minister or Science, technology and Earth Sciences, Kapil Sibbal on 15th October, 2007. It was quite important for the country to have its own tsunami warning system after the devastating tsunami of 26th December 2004 that claimed more than 10,000 lives in India and destroyed much of the coastal infrastructure in Tamil Nadu and the Andamans.

But apart from celebrating this achievement of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, there are many issues to be looked at.

Many say the cost, reportedly Rs 1,250 million, is not at all justified. Instead they believe that India should be part of an integrated international effort to develop a global tsunami warning system and draw on the expertise of countries like Japan and the US. But I do not subscribe to this line of thinking. India should have its own tsunami warning system, because we will be in a better position to ascertain the danger to our coastline in the event of a tsunami. India has two island territories, the Andaman and Nicobar islands and the Lakshadweep islands. They are not well connected with the mainland so if a tsunami does strike, we will need to put out all stops for relief and rescue operations. The Andamans are quite close to the earthquake hotbed around Indonesia. We may not have enough time to react if we depend on information from other agencies. Our own system enables real time monitoring of the ocean bed, provided by the network of 12 bottom pressure recorders in the Indian Ocean and Tide Gauges along the coasts.

The system also allows to hypothesise and test hundreds of possible scenarios in the event of a tsunami and plan the next course of action. INCOIS has simulated 550 scenarios. This information can be shared with other international tsunami warning agencies and will help us to understand the phenomenon more.

But all said and done, the pertinent question is, how prepared we actually are on the ground?

Do we have a policy on rescue and relief operations after a natural calamity? Are the district officials in the coastal areas prepared to handle large scale evacuation if required? Are the locals trained in administrating first aid? What are we doing to impart education to people about tsunamis and other natural calamities and remove misconceptions? Do they conduct periodic drills? Have the people been asked to have their own contingency plans? Are all fishermen and their families covered under insurance guarantee schemes?

In June 2005, a rumour about an impending tsunami caused a stampede that killed 10 people in the Nehru Nagar slum in Juhu in Bombay.

So imagine, if a tsunami does strike... Answers, anyone?

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