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Researchers are hoping that disaster warning systems will help protect  residents of vulnerable coastal villages. (IDRC Photo: N. Kumar)

23 January 2006 – Over a year after the 2004 December tsunami, residents of 32 affected coastal villages will test a satellite-based disaster warning system, prior to coast-wide implementation. 

 

The December disaster killed some 31 000 coastal residents and holiday-makers in Sri Lanka.

 

Studies in the aftermath of the horror pointed to the lack of a disaster warning system, which, if in place at the time of disaster, would have triggered a warning an estimated hour and half before the waves crashed into Sri Lanka’s southern coast.

 

Of some 226 Sarvodaya villages that were affected by the tsunami, a select 32 will receive disaster mitigation training and disaster warning equipment through a project initiated by LIRNEasia, the regional ICT policy and regulation capacity building organization.

 

The Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC) funded project will test the effectiveness of disaster mitigation training and five different village-level disaster warning technologies during simulated disaster drills.

 

Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne, Executive Director of Sarvodaya said “This project seeks to prepare our villages from the ground-up to become disaster resilient. When the official warnings come, the villages will be ready to receive them and act on them promptly.”

 

LIRNEasia officials said that a lack of a national warning system compounded by a non-existent local warning communication system and public training makes it unlikely that, even today, hazard warnings will reach individual households.

 

Officials said even as the government attempts to install an ocean-based warning system, it should also focus attention to the last mile.

 

LIRNEasia Executive Director Prof. Rohan Samarajiva said “The current project, driven by civil society organizations, has extraordinary potential for saving lives and restoring a sense of security to the affected people in Sri Lanka and hopefully around the Bay of Bengal.”

 

The research design, meanwhile, will evaluate the role played by a number of factors that contribute to the design of an effective last mile hazard information dissemination system.

 

Some of the areas of evaluation will include the reliability and effectiveness of information and communication technologies as warning systems, the contribution of training and the economic standing of the village towards the effectiveness of a warning system.

 

Prof. Samarajiva said, while the project aims to cover most of the coast, it was up to the government and its agencies including the newly formed National Disaster Management Centre to implement the last mile warning system and disaster mitigation training to other parts of the island that face serious risks.

 

 

The 32 villages in the pilot project will be provided with different configurations of training and information and communication technologies.

 

The ICTs include the fixed and mobile phone, ham radio, and Disaster Warning and Response Recovery (DWRR) units provided by US-based technology provider WorldSpace.

 

The DWRR unit is the most comprehensive of the technologies being tested.

 

The warning system can be remotely activated and can issues warning to the entire island or specific locations as per the requirement.

 

The units are also designed to work independently of utilities like electricity and local telephone exchanges that could be destroyed during a disaster.

 

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For more information: Shafraz Farook: shafraz@vanguardlk.com 

 

To see this article in its original context, visit the Lanka Business Online Web site http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/fullstory.php?newsID=1633053122&no_view=1

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