India open to aid for tsunami warning system

     New Delhi: India today welcomed international help to eastablish a tsunami early warning system even as differences emerged at a U.N.-sponsored conference, on which nation takes leadership of the high-profile project. More than 225,000 people died in the massive Dec. 26 tsunami in the region, thousands of whom might have been saved if an early warning system was in place. The tsunami was spawned by the most powerful earthquake in 40 years, which struck off the Indonesian coast. An hour before the tsunami made landfall, U.S. officials tried frantically to warn the deadly wall of water was coming, but there was no official alert system in the region. Tsunamis are much more frequent in the Pacific Ocean and countries there have long established an early warning system to protect them from disaster. Analysts have since stressed that countries in the Indian Ocean must follow suit and set up a network of underwater sea monitors which might cost as little as 20 million dollars to build. Warnings of imminent inundations would be sent out automatically on television and radio and by text messages to mobile phones. The system, they say, is economically critical and would help woo back tourists scared away by the mass loss of life. New Delhi has announced Rs. 1.25 billion for developingi the own system, which it says will and would use the Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting Technology or DART.

     "Whatever system we establish and implement, we have tabled the project for all to see. If any international agency wants to help us, we are in no way opposed to it. If UNESCO wants that we make the system better, use more money...basically make it more effective then we are definitely not opposed to it," Science and Technology minister Kapil Sibal told reporters here after a brainstorming session attended by over 100 scientists from India and abroad. Sibal said India would network with all nations in the Indian Ocean while formulating the system. "If we have to do networking with them, we have no problem. This is a global effort, we are trying to protect the countries in the Indian Ocean, which are effected by the tsunami. As you know, a wave hit Somalia, 200 people lost their lives in Somalia, that's the impact, so, we want to protect. But since we do have a project, since we do have a basic heart of the system already in place, because we have a database, we have to add to that database, then we will add the DART (Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting Technology) technology, it will be for the benefit of all and will have networking with all nations, there is absolutely no problem in this," Sibal said.

     Meanwhile, numerous proposals have emerged for the system at the conference on disaster prevention in the Japanese city of Kobe, prompting some delegates to say they feared different nations were jockeying for supremacy, seriously threatening efforts to put the warning system into place quickly. U.N. officials, who promised on Thursday to have the system up and running in 12 to 18 months, have denied there is any rivalry and say the world organisation intends to keep on coordinating the process over the next weeks and months as the details are worked out.

Thailand to host tsunami early warning meeting next week (Go To Top)

     Bangkok: Envoys from 43 countries and 13 international organizations will arrive here next week to chalk out a plan to create a tsunami early warning system in the Indian Ocean. According to foreign ministry sources in Thailand, the January 28-29 meeting on the tsunami-devastated tourist island of Phuket follows a UN gathering in Kobe, Japan, where the United Nations was tasked with ironing out differences among a flood of proposals on how to build the system in the wake of the Indian Ocean tragedy. Thailand wants the system to build on the existing Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), based in Bangkok, which offers training on disaster management. "Thailand has proposed that the United Nations-sponsored ADPC, which is located in Bangkok, be responsible for the early warning system," The News quoted Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeao as saying in a statement.

     Most of the countries attending the two-day meeting will be represented by their foreign ministers. Among the countries expected to attend are the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Asian and African nations bordering the Indian Ocean, and major donors such as the European Union, Japan and the United States. The meeting is the first in a string of gatherings aimed at recovering from the disaster that killed more than 5,300 people in Thailand and 2, 20,000 overall. The Madrid-based World Tourism Organization is holding its first- ever emergency session in Phuket starting January 31, to try and assess the situation and adopt a plan to restore vacationers' confidence in tsunami-hit countries. A two-day international gathering of geoscientists is also set for January 31 in Bangkok, to consider how scientists can create warning systems and prevent the waves from taking such a deadly toll in the region. The tsunami, triggered by an earthquake registering 9.0 on the Richter scale off the coast of Sumatra, killed some 220,000 people when it ripped across the Indian Ocean on December 26.

Famous Corbyn Cove beach in tsunami-hit Andamans devastated (Go To Top)

     Corbyn Cove (Andaman and Nicobar): World famous Corbyn Cove beach in Andaman and Nicobar bears a deserted look even three weeks after it was battered by tsunamis. Corbyn Cove, just four kilometres from Port Blair, sprawled with lush green lawns, plantations and gardens built overlooking the sea used to be a favourite holiday destination of backpackers from both the mainland and abroad. The beach used to organise sailing, boating, snorkeling and surfing activities round the year. Residents, most of whom are staying in relief camps, say the tourist resorts have been completely destroyed and the rebuilding would take another year. "Much of the tourism has been hit as people are now scared because of publicity that the islands have been devastated. The place is very beautiful, you can't get it anywhere...they should start coming here," said Mohan. Bhaskar, incharge of Peerless resorts, said tourists were still scared to venture around the sea. "After tsunami I found not even a single tourist entering here. Specifically they are so scared of water. We have been running empty for the past 10-15 days. Even the reporters are scared to come over to stay here," said Bhaskar.