Thursday, December 30, 2004

President Abdul Kalam's Words..

In connection to yday's writeup, quoting President Abdul Kalam's words from "The Hindu" ....

The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, called for a tsunami warning system along the entire Indian coastline on the lines of the one in the 27 Pacific nations, safeguarding them from distant source tsunamis.

``We can either have an Indian control centre that is connected to the Pacific tsunami warning centre or an indigenous integrated technological solution as a long term disaster management option,'' he suggested, addressing students of the University of Hyderabad from New Delhi over a videoconference, at its ninth convocation here on Tuesday.

In the 1970s, India had kept away from the Pacific tsunami warning system, which gives significant advance notice of the impending disaster to as many as 27 nations today, sometimes as much as three full hours.

``After an earthquake occurs beneath the seabed, it takes three hours for the dynamic waves of great height to build up. All communities within a three-hour travel time from the epicentre of the earthquake can be evacuated to safety thanks to the tsunami warning system. This only means that technologically there is a solution,'' Mr. Kalam said.

bye,
Rajesh