Hyderabad: India’s first major test of its indigenous cell broadcast emergency alert system reached millions of mobile users across networks on Saturday afternoon, marking a major success for rapid disaster communication. The exercise, conducted by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Union department of telecommunications (DoT), confirmed near real‑time delivery without network overload.
The alerts, labelled “Extremely Severe Alert,” appeared in English and local languages and read: “India launches Cell Broadcast using indigenous technology for instant disaster alerting service for its citizens. No action required.” Coverage included all capital cities and Delhi‑NCR, excluding border and poll‑bound areas. Users reported loud beeps or vibrations and voice messages across major service providers.
Hyderabad shop owner Kavitha Mudiraj said, “The alert hit my Airtel phone twice. It was clear and instant, and there was no panic as it was reported in the media as a sample test. Though the loud beep surprised me, the Telugu voice message calmed fears.” Public response remained calm overall, validating the system’s reliability during tower tests.
Developed by the Centre for Development of Telematics (C‑DOT), the system integrates with the SACHET platform using the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP). Unlike SMS, Cell Broadcast pushes geo‑targeted alerts simultaneously to all phones in a specified area, bypassing congestion — a key advantage during high‑traffic emergencies, said telecom expert Gudupudi Rama Krishna. He added that the home‑grown system is among the first of its kind and will be invaluable for earthquakes, cyclones, gas leaks and chemical hazards because it can be activated within seconds.
The system supports multiple languages and complements SACHET’s existing SMS alerts. A companion mobile app offers weather forecasts and multi‑location disaster alerts.
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