Rural districts in Uttarakhand to have community radios network for disaster alerts

The Uttarakhand government will introduce a network of community radios in all disaster-prone districts for alerting the people in advance about natural calamities and for providing assistance in post disaster relief and rescue operations.

The Uttarakhand government will introduce a network of community radios in all disaster-prone districts for alerting the people in advance about natural calamities and for providing assistance in post-disaster relief and rescue operations.

“We along with the central government are working jointly on a plan under which a network of community radios will be introduced in all areas falling in the disaster-prone districts,” secretary, disaster management, Amit Negi told HT. “The decision was taken because the community radio is the only reliable means of communication in times of natural disasters.”

All other means of communication such as tower-based mobile telephony or landline phones mostly stop working during natural calamities, he said. “That is what was witnessed in areas struck by the cataclysmic floods in 2013,” he said, adding besides disaster prone hill districts, the network of community radios would be set up in all rural areas. “In that connection, a plan is being chalked out jointly by us and the Centre.”

Under the plan, panchayat bodies would be provided subsidies to set up the systems of community radios. “These radios, which will be connected with regional networks of the All India Radio, will function on frequencies allotted by the Centre.”

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News Source- Hindustan Times