India tests disaster info system, citizens get loud beeps on phones with ‘extremely severe alert’

DId your speech sound go away with a loud bleep after an exigency qui vive today? The government's instant disaster alerting service sparked alarm on Saturday morning as a loud sound echoed through multiple mobile phones, confusing people as to what had happened.As they checked their phones a message starting with the words ‘Extremely severe alert’ flashed with the following text: “India, launches Cell Broadcast using indigenous technology, for instant disaster alerting service for its citizens. Alert citizens, safe nation. No action is required by the public upon receipt of this message. This is a test message. - Government of India.”A day before the alerts were tested, the Department of Telecommunications urged people not to panic when that happens. “This is part of the testing of the Emergency Alert System, so that accurate information can be received on time during disasters,” a tweet read on Friday. Trial of disaster alert systemThe development came days after the government said it would be testing a mobile-based disaster alert system and urged citizens to ignore it."As part of the pan-India rollout and the launch of the Cell Broadcast (CB) facility, nationwide testing and trials are currently being conducted to assess the system's performance and reliability prior to its formal inauguration and dedication to the nation. During this period, members of the public may receive test messages in English, Hindi and regional languages on their mobile devices," the statement said, as quoted in a PTI report on Wednesday.According to the report, the trials and the alert system is based on the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) as recommended by the UN body International Telecommunication Union.The government had said that citizens may receive these alerts multiple times on their phones, and urged them not to act on them.The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) are coordinating on this system.Emergency alert trial in FebruaryA similar nationwide test of an emergency alert system was carried out back in February. Both iPhone and Android users had reported receiving a “Test Alert” notification with a loud beep.“This is a TEST Cell Broadcast message sent by the National Disaster Management Authority in coordination with Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India as part of testing Cell Broadcast solution for disseminating alerts,” the notification read.