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Unable to send mass SMS alerts, says DMC
View(s):Is it appropriate in this modern age to continue to rely on urgent weather alerts conveyed by facsimile–particularly when the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) has the ability to send out mass SMS alerts to all mobile phone subscribers?
But this system also has limitations, argues Pradeep Kodippili, Deputy Director. The DMC has been consulting the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) for some time.
“We face a hurdle in that mass SMS alerts take time to reach everyone,” he explained. “There’s a bottleneck in the system. You see that with the New Year greeting sent out by the President. It takes hours to reach everyone. Some people get it even the following day. We will face the same problem.”
The DMC has, however, successfully sent SMS alerts to selected areas, notably during the recent floods. Mobile phone subscribers in the Western Province were warned of rising levels in the Kelani River. “It won’t work as well if we had to send it to the entire country,” Mr Kodippili said.
The DMC has made a list of key people to send SMS alerts to in an emergency. These include representatives of the armed forces and police, district secretaries, fisheries officials, grama niladharis and media. “We issue warnings to them and they, in turn, alert others and make preparations to meet an emergency,” Mr Kodippili said.
The DMC also carried out trials of a Disaster Emergency Warning Network (DEWN) for some years. It was put to use in 2015/16 and can be downloaded via an app by both Android and IOS operating systems. It transmits weather forecasts and warnings directly to phones. Messages are transmitted faster than SMS.
“If a warning is issued even while the phone is silent, a siren will sound after it reaches the phone,” Mr Kodippili said. If everyone using a smartphone had the app, warnings can be conveyed within minutes.
“We’ve been trying to popularise it but have noticed that people fear it might eat into their mobile data, even if it is not so,” he said. DEWN is currently available in both English and Sinhala. The DMC also started sending alerts out in Tamil this week.
Anyone wishing to download the app can do so by typing #117# and following the link sent to their phone. Meanwhile, the DMC also asks the public to contact them through 117, 0112670002 or 0112136136 for any information in case of emergency.