- By Ashita Singh
- Thu, 17 Aug 2023 03:42 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Emergency has been trending on the social media site X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday after several mobile users in India received an 'emergency flash' on Thursday. The smartphones got an ‘Emergency Alert: Severe’ at around 1.30 pm today with a a loud beep.
"This is a SAMPLE TESTING MESSAGE sent through Cell Broadcasting System by Department of Telecommunication, Government of India. Please ignore this message as no action is required from your end. This message has been sent to TEST Pan-India Emergency Alert System being implemented by National Disaster Management Authority. It aims to enhance public safety and provide timely alerts during emergencies," read the flash message.
The notification itself triggered panic among users and they flooded the social media with screenshots of the message and inquired about it.
Emergency alert broadcast message service being tested by @vodafone #emergencyalert pic.twitter.com/CWfO1atRap
— Deepak Gupta (@gupta_deepak01) August 17, 2023
Here's What It Means:
The emergency notification was a test message sent by the Department of Telecommunication to check its emergency alert system. This was such tests are an integral part of disaster preparedness and response strategies implemented by the government. These mock emergency alerts serve as crucial practice exercises to ensure the effective dissemination of vital information to citizens during times of actual crisis.
“These tests will be performed from time to time in various regions across country to gauge the efficiency and effectiveness of emergency alert broadcasting capabilities of the systems in place, of various Mobile Operators and Cell Broadcast System”, a statement by the Department of Telecommunications dated July 20 read.
According to DoT, the cell broadcast alert system is a technology which allows the government to send critical and time-sensitive messages for disaster management to all the mobile devices within a designated geographical area, irrespective of whether the recipients are residents or visitors. Cell Broadcast is commonly used to deliver emergency alerts, such as severe weather warnings like tsunami, flash floods, earthquakes etc.