Cyclone Yaas: DoT sends 6 crore bulk texts in local languages to alert people

New Delhi: The impact of Cyclone Yaas on telecommunications services in the affected states of Odisha and West Bengal was minimal, the Department of Telecom (DoT) informed on Wednesday (May 26). 

While a total of six crore messages were sent in local languages in order to alert people of the cyclonic storm in Odisha, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. 

"On May 24 and 25, the Common Alert Protocol (CAP) of DoT and CDoT were extensively used by state disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) in West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh to disseminate the cyclone alert messages free of cost,” the DoT said in a statement. 

“A total of more than 6 crore bulk messages were sent in local languages alerting local residents. Of these, 3.87 crore were in West Bengal, 2.43 crore in Odisha and 36.4 lakhs in Andhra Pradesh," the statement further read. 

Telecom secretary Anshu Prakash told PTI, "This is the first time voice alerts were sent to people in their local language, which should have had an impact. Telecom service providers (TSPs) readily cooperated to offer this facility free of cost. We will add this facility as standard protocol for disaster management.”

The central government ensured that restoration work has commenced and the telecom networks will be reestablished soon. 

"The combined efforts of TSPs and Infrastructure Providers coordinated by the Department of Telecommunications has ensured that restoration of the damaged network has commenced, and even the minimal outages in the telecom networks will be restored very quickly," DoT said. 

As per PTI report, the impact on telecom infrastructure has been 5-7 per cent and the chief cause behind this is power outages. 

The DoT has allowed intra-circle roaming in the cyclone hit areas, including East Medinipur, West Medinipur, Bankura, Jhargramand and South 24 Pargana in West Bengal and Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj in Odisha, to enable subscribers to use whichever telecom network is available in their area without any extra cost.

Meanwhile, at least four people reportedly lost their lives in Odisha and West Bengal as Cyclone Yaas pounded the eastern coast on Wednesday. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said one crore people were affected in the state due to the cyclone. 

 Around 21 lakh people were evacuated to safe shelters in West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand.

(With PTI inputs)

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