E-Paper
Uttarakhand gets system to communicate with remote areas, can save lives in crises
The new technology will help authorities reach out to people in remote places with low or no mobile connectivity in the event of a disaster or an emergency.
Uttarakhand state disaster response force (SDRF) has acquired the quick deployment antenna (QDA) technology for effectively tackling the challenges emerging from disasters and to reach out to affected people in the remote areas of the Himalayan state at the earliest.
The QDA, which is based on satellite communication, helps authorities to reach out to people or officials in no signal areas and send and receive voice and video data apart from holding video conferencing.
The QDA technology was inaugurated by chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat in Dehradun at SDRF control room on Thursday.
The state government has already distributed 248 satellite phones to people living in the remote areas of the state so that timely communication is possible with authorities involved in dealing with disasters and emergencies even without mobile connectivity. To further strengthen the emergency communication set up, the SDRF has now acquired the QDA technology.
SDRF commandant Tripti Bhatt said Uttarakhand is the first state in the country which has started using QDA, which till now, was being used primarily by paramilitary forces and the national disaster response force (NDRF).
Bhatt said the SDRF has procured six QDA systems including three standing and three mobile ones.
“The static (standing) QDAs will be set up at SDRF headquarters in Dehradun while mobile QDAs would be sent to the affected areas by a helicopter, so that communication regarding the disaster rescue and search and other emergencies could be established in a very fast way. This will help in effectively managing rescue and search operations in real-time and will help the authorities in reducing casualties due to various disasters”, she said.
Sanjay Gunjyal, inspector general (IG) SDRF and Tripti Bhatt, SDRF commandant, first conducted a trial of QDA systems by establishing communication between SDRF control room Dehradun and Gunji area in Pithoragarh, Malari area in Chamoli and Tiuni area in Dehradun district. After the successful trial, the QDA technology was inaugurated by the chief minister, who interacted with the village heads and others in these areas using the system.
After the inauguration, Rawat said the new technology will help the state government in effectively dealing with various disasters and emergencies.
