The
Odisha government has roped in amateur radio operators in a desperate bid to
set up communication bases along the Odisha-Andhra coastline where cyclone
Hudhud is expected to hit on Sunday.
The cyclone with wind speeds is expected to snap
all terrestrial communication systems.
In
such a scenario, amateur radio, also called ham radio, will become the only
medium for the government to coordinate relief operations and exchange critical
messages between government bodies, the two states and also with New Delhi.
Eight
people will go to Odisha and four to Andhra Pradesh. The control rooms will be
set up in Sodepur (Bengal), Vizag and Bhubaneswar. A three-member team from the
National Institute of Amateur Radio will be posted in Visakhapatnam.
Amateur
radio participants use radio communication equipment to communicate with other
radio amateurs through airwaves for public services, recreation and
self-training. Ham operators have worked in disasters like cyclone Aila and the
Bhuj earthquake. Emails can also be sent through in areas with no other active
communication systems.
In a
letter to West Bengal Radio Club and director of the National Institute of
Amateur Radio, the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority acknowledged that
the ham systems were successfully used during cyclone Phailin by erecting
“failproof” communication systems.
“We’ve
put together an eight-member team from Bengal to handle the assignment. We will
set up mobile bases at key areas,” said Amabarish Nag Biswas, a licenced
amateur radio operator.
News
published in Hindustan times on Sat, 11
Oct 2014
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