‘Scary as hell’: Priyanka Chaturvedi reacts to ‘extremely severe alert’ buzz on phones, govt clarifies

MUltiple mobile river phones made an eery buzzing go at around 11.40am today. It wasn't your sound glitching, neither was it an exigency alert message as well.The alert text sent to almost all mobile phones across the country was a ‘test message’ sent by the government of India testing instant disaster alerting service. However, the buzz sparked alarm and got people confused as to what had actually happened.The message was titled ‘Extremely severe alert’ and was followed by the 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.”‘Scary as hell’But by the time people read the message, it did trigger some amount of panic and paranoia. Social media was also abuzz with reactions following the alarm sound on mobile phones which got people quite scared, even if briefly.Many political leaders also took to social media and said how ‘alarmed’ they were upon receiving the alert message.Also read: Did your phone beep loudly with an emergency alert today? Here’s why the government sent itAmong the political leaders who reacted on social media about the alert text was Shiv Sena's Priyanka Chaturvedi.“That alarm was scary as hell and caused panic. A small message of preparedness for expecting such system tests on our phones would have been helpful. And not once but twice,” she wrote on X. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)'s Delhi chief Saurabh Bharadwaj also took to X and said he was ‘quite Alarmed’.“While I was browsing twitter, this message popped up on my phone with an alarm sounding emergency,” he wrote on X. Centre clarifiesUnion minister for communication, Jyotiraditya M Scindia said a Cell Broadcasting Solution was launched today by National Disaster Management Agency in collaboration with the Department of Telecommunications. The system will ensure the safety of India's 140 crore population during any disaster, Scindia said, adding that the system will utilise every tower from 2G to 5G.Also read: ‘We’re not like India’: Pakistan minister admits to no strategic oil reserves, says stocks for only '5-7 days’“The self-reliant solution can reach every village, town, and region, including the Himalayas, coastal areas, and the north-eastern highlands. It does not require phone databases or data systems and is operator-agnostic, allowing all telecom service providers to connect. This system adheres to international standards based on the International Telecommunication Union's CAP protocol,” he said. 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. The system is based on the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) as recommended by the UN body International Telecommunication Union. It is currently operational across all 36 States and Union Territories of India and delivers disaster and emergency-related alerts via SMS to mobile users within geo-targeted areas, PTI reported.Cell Broadcast (CB) technology has been introduced alongside SMS, enabling alerts to be transmitted to all mobile devices within a defined geographic area simultaneously, ensuring near-real-time delivery.