If you get a disaster alert message on your phone, do not panic. Here is why

New Delhi: The government is conducting trials of mobile-based disaster alert systems across the country and has asked citizens to ignore messages that they will receive during tests, an official statement said on Wednesday.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), is actively enhancing mobile-based disaster communication systems across the country to ensure the timely dissemination of critical information to its citizens.

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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.

Cell Broadcast (CB) technology has been introduced, alongside SMS, in which alerts are transmitted to all mobile devices within a defined geographic area simultaneously, ensuring near real-time delivery of the alerts.

"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.

The messages are part of a planned nationwide testing exercise and do not require any action by the recipients, it added.

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The message will mention, "This is a TEST Cell Broadcast message sent by the National Disaster Management Authority in coordination with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)...During the testing of the Cell Broadcast solution, you may receive this message multiple times on your mobile handset. Please ignore these message(s); no action is required at your end".

DoT has appealed for the cooperation of the public during the testing phase and reiterated that all test messages during this period are purely for system validation purposes and no action is required from the recipient side.

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