Thursday, December 30 2004 20:13 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Confusion prevailed over today's fresh Tsunami warning by the Home Ministry with Science and Technology Ministry distancing itself from it saying there was no official alert.

While the Home Ministry maintained till late this evening that a "cautious alert" was in force and will continue till Jan 1, 2005, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal told a press conference that there was no official warning that a Tsunami would hit the country's eastern coastline "in either next few hours or very soon thereafter."

Sibal's reaction came hours after the Home Ministry issued the warning to Chief Secretaries of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands alerting them that a Tsunami could hit the States' coastline "today afternoon".

Later, Secretary (Disaster Management) in the Home Ministry A K Rastogi said that the "cautious warning" would be in force till Jan 1, 2005.

Asked about the remarks of Sibal and the ensuing confusion over the warning, Home Minister Shivraj Patil told reporters that, "If we have to commit a mistake, let us err on the safer side. We had the information and it was a collective decision."

The warning issued by Home Ministry said that, "A number of experts outside country are suggesting that another Tsunami may hit Indian Ocean today afternoon in the event of an earthquake of high intensity which may happen near Australian region."