Posted on 12/29/2004 5:55:54 AM PST by sukhoi-30mki
India plans tsunami alert system
The Indian government has announced plans for installing a tsunami early warning system in the wake of the Indian Ocean disaster.
A minister said the country had had no warning of Sunday's giant wave which killed at least 7,000 in India alone.
A US-made pressure recording system is to be laid on the ocean floor and linked to surface data buoys.
The new system will be similar to that used in the Pacific Ocean and should also provide warnings of cyclones.
"If the country had had such an alert system in place, we could have warned the coastal areas of the imminent danger and avoided the loss of life," said Kapil Sibal, India's minister of state for science and technology.
International proposals to install an early warning system in the Indian Ocean were raised last year but made little progress.
"6-12 systems would be purchased from US manufacturers & installed in 12-18 months "
----Good idea ..... now that the damage is already done!
If only India had diverted a fraction of funds from it's nuclear program earlier...
& how much do you think India spends on defense??It spends lesser of it's GDP on defense than Pakistan,China or even Thailand.& what is the guarantee that the money saved would go into building systems like this?
Well, so far only one horse is gone... still time to lock the barn door.
Yep,though I hate to say it,things have moved real fast in Delhi this time.10 years ago,it would take a dozen tsunamis to get such a commitment.
Too funny - if it weren't so sad.
Just DOH.
Haven't they realized that the entire Indonesian Archipelago sits on the Indonesian Subduction Zone, one the world's MOST geologically active areas? Indonesia is like the US Pacific Northwest geologically--very vulnerable to earthquakes and full of dangerous, active volcanoes.
Political pressure must be excruciating. Democracy may not be perfect, but it does occasionally punish and place constraints on malfeasance.
I would agree that the necessary systems should have been in place and we should have tried to avert this disaster.
But the nuclear program is by no means at fault. It is not that we were short of funds, we just got the bright idea only too late.
First, they have to construct the barn door.
Then they have to close it.
This could take some time and money.
With a little bit of basheesh, it could be done sooner, god willing....
The nuclear program generates much needed electricity on a daily basis as opposed to this system which may prove its utility once in a hundred years.
The gripe about a tsunami alert system is silly -- The Bay of Bengal doesn't really get tsunamis as rgularly as the Pacific -- the last one was when Krakatoa blew up in 1884! This was an unusual occurence for which NOW they knew they need an alert system. And don't forget -- the Indians would have to foot the bill for most of the region.
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